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BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON. 


A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR  A 
NEW  CENTURY  I 


AN  ACCURATE  AND   UP-TO-DATE   RECORD   OF 
THE  UPIVARD  STRUGGLES  OF  THE  NEGRO  RACE 


The  Spanish-American  War,  Causes  of  It;  Vivid  Descriptions  of  Fierce 

Battles;  Superb  Heroism  and  Daring  Deeds 

of  the  Negro  Soldier 

"Colored  Officers  or  No  Colored  Soldiers" 

THE  CLOSING  OF  THE  WAR  AND  THE  PEACE  TREATY 

EDUCATION 

Industrial  Schools,  Colleges,  Universities  and  their  Relationship 

TO  the  Race  Problem 

BY 

PROF.  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON 


Reconstruction  and  Industrial  Advancement 

BY 

N.  B.  WOOD,  THE  HISTORIAN 

The  Colored  Woman  and  Her  Part  in  Race  Regeneration 

The  Names  and  Location  of  the  Clubs  in  the  National  Association  of  Colore 

Women  of  the  United  States  and  their  Benefits  to 

Our  Sisters  in  Black 

BY  THE   FAMOUS   CLUB   WOMAN,  WRITER  AND   AUTHOR 

FANNIE  BARRIER  WILLIAMS 


MAGNIFICENTLY    ILLUSTRATED 


MANUFACTURED    BY 

AMERICAN    PUBLISHING    HOUSE 

352,  354,  356  dearborn  street 

Chicago,  III. 


0 


Copyrighted  by  J.  E.  McBrady. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


INTRODUCTION. 

This  book  has  been  rightly  named  ''A  NEW 
NEGRO  FOR  A  NEW  CENTURY."    The  Negro 

of  to-day  is  in  every  phase  of  Hfe  far  advanced  over 
the  Negro  of  30  years  ago.  In  the  following  pages 
the  progressive  life  of  the  Afro-American  people  has 
been  written  in  the  light  of  achievements  that  wall  be 
surprising  to  people  w4io  are  ignorant  of  the  enlarg- 
ing life  of  these  remarkable  people. 

In  the  succeeding  pages,  both  History  and  Remi- 
niscence of  the  Afro-American  have  been  collected 
in  attractive  form.  The  stories  given  have  been  gath- 
ered from  the  lips  of  the  heroes  themselves.  Stories, 
which  once  woven  into  the  text-books  of  the  Nation, 
will  obtain  for  the  brave  contemporaries  of  our  own 
times  places  in  history  along  w- ith  those  of  our  heroic 
forefathers.  To  these  reminiscences  gathered  fresh 
from  the  field,  the  colored  pupil  and  historian  of  this 
new  Century  must  turn  for  their  narrative. 

Sectionalism,  which  threatened  the  disruption  of 
the  Union  in  1861,  has  been  banished  forever.  The 
cries  of  an  enthralled  and  afflicted  people  have  been 
answered  and  humanity  has  been  redeemed. 

The  numberless  histories  of  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can War  that  have  been  published  and  which  all  have 
given  national  praise  to  the  wdiite  soldiers,  the  patri- 
otism, the  valor  and  bravery  of  the  colored  soldiers 
has  scarcely,  if  ever,  been  mentioned.  I  hope  that 
these  chapters  will  be  accepted  as  an  authentic  state- 
ment of  the  thrilHng  experiences  and  daring  acts  of 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION 

the  brave  black  men,  both  regulars  and  volunteers, 
who  faced  the  perilous  exploits  of  war  with  indom- 
itable courage  and  have  made  what  ought  to  be  an 
imperishable  impress  upon  the  whole  country,  teach- 
ing a  lesson  in  patriotism,  which  speaks  volumes  for 
the  stability  of  our  struggling  race. 

The  stand  that  our  colored  soldiers  took  through- 
out the  war  is  discussed  pro  and  con  in  the  following 
pages.  All  the  colored  regiments  and  officers  that 
were  sent  to  Cuba,  as  well  as  the  regiments  and 
officers  which  were  afterwards  sent  to  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  are  carefully  and  correctly  listed  herein. 

The  section  on  Education  is  especially  apt  at  a 
time  w^hen  the  American  people  have  begun  to  spec- 
ulate as  to  the  value  of  the  last  30  years  of  education 
among  the  colored  people.  As  on  all  questions  rela- 
tive to  the  race  problem,  Prof.  Booker  T.  Washing- 
ton is  especially  original  and  helpful  in  giving  the 
right  point  of  view  in  estimating  the  value  of  the 
education  already  given  to  the  Negro  and  the  kind 
of  education  most  needed.  The  race  is  fortunate 
in  having  so  masterful  a  man  to  present  these  sub- 
jects with  a  thoroughness  and  authority  of  an  His- 
torian. 

Mr.  Wood's  chapters  reciting  the  achievements 
of  the  Negro  from  the  days  of  reconstruction  are 
full  of  interest  and  happy  surprises. 

The  club  movement  among  the  colored  women  of 
the  country,  written  by  Mrs.  Fannie  Barrier  Will- 
iams, the  well-known  club  woman  and  newspaper  cor- 
respondent, will  be  found  to  be  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting parts  of  the  book.  Nothing  in  the  whole 
book  represents  so  distinctively  the  new  life  of  this 
progressive  race  as  the  ambitions,  the  social  energy, 


INTRODUCTION  5 

and  achievements  of  colored  women  in  the  organ- 
ized efforts  for  social  betterment. 

This  is  the  first  attempt  to  publish  in  permanent 
form  a  history  of  the  progressive  life  of  the  colored 
women  of  America,  with  the  names  and  locations 
of  all  the  clubs  belonging  to  the  National  Associa- 
tion. These  clubs  are  composed  of  some  of  the  best 
women  in  the  country  and  their  location  will  prove 
of  inestimable  value  to  women  traveling  unprotected 
or  as  strangers  in  any  part  of  the  country.  We  have 
been  frequently  requested  to  furnish  just  such  a 
helpful  directory  of  women's  clubs. 

The  photographs  contained  in  this  book  make  a 
most  pleasing  gallery  of  intelligent  and  progressive 
men,  and  strong,  intellectual  and  charming  women. 

J.  E.  MacB„ 


CONTENTS. 


Pagtb 
Chapter 

I.     Cause  of  the  Spanish-American  War  -     11 
II'     Afro-American  Volunteers  and  Regi- 
ments   SENT    TO   THE    PHILIPPINES    -     -      23 

III.  Afro-American  Regulars  in  Cuba      -     36 

IV*.  Afro-American     Regulars     in     Cuba 

(Continued)      -         '         '         '        '      zl 

V.  The  Peace  Treaty         '         '         '  It 

VI.  Afro-American  Education  -  -     vy 

VII.  Slavery  in  the  Colonies        -         -  9^ 

VIII  Negro  Soldiers  in  the  Revolution  -  lia 

IX  Slavery   and    the    Constitution    and 

Declaration   of   Independence    -    -  14^ 

X.  Slavery    Unmasked      -       -       -       -         164 

XL  Underground  Railroads       -       -        '    i^^ 

XII.  Heroes    and    Martyrs     -         ~         ~       Zyl 

XIII  Black  Phalanx  in  the  Rebellion     -    ZbO 

XIV.  Exodus  and  Settlement  in  the  North 

AND    V^EST  -  -  "  "  ■      ^HQ 

XV.     Kentucky's  Hospitality  -         -         ^^^ 

XVI.     Fathers  to  the  Race         -         -         -66b 
XVII.     The  Club  Movement  Among  Colored 

V^omen  of  America         -         -         -     379 
XVIH      The    Clubs   and   Their    Location    in 
all   the    States   of    the    National 
Association  of  Colored  V^omen  and 
Their  Mission       _       -       -       -»  406-428 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 

1.  Buildings   and   Grounds   of  Tuskegee   Normal  and 

Industrial    Institute    Frontispiece. 

2.  Booker  T.   Washington Frontispiece. 

3.  Lieut.  Charles  E.  Young 13 

4.  General  Maximo  Gomez 17 

5.  Lieut.  John  H.  Alexander 21 

6.  General  Antonio  Maceo 25 

7.  Col.  James  H.  Young 31 

8.  Col.  John  R.  ^larshall 35 

9.  Dr.  J.  Webb  Curtis 39 

10.  Col.  W.  A.  Pledger 43 

11.  Paul  Laurence  Dunbar 49 

12.  Alexander   Miles    55 

13.  Hon.  J.  F.  Wheaton 61 

14.  H.  T.  Kealing,  A.  M 65 

15.  S.  Laing  Williams,  A.  B.  &  M.  L 69 

16.  T.  Thomas  Fortune 7^ 

17.  Edward  Wilson   yy 

18.  Dr.  Daniel  H.  Williams 81 

19.  Prof.  W.  E.  B.  DuBois 85 

20.  Prof.  W.  H.  Councill 87 

21.  Prof.  W.  S.  Scarborough,  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  Ph.  D...     89 

22.  Prof.  Lliram  E.  Archer,  M.  S 91 

23.  Rev.  N.  B.,  Wood 95 

24.  John  G.  Mitchell 103 

25.  Jndson  W.  Lyons 113 

26.  Charles  Chesnut 129 

27.  Dr.  A.  R.  Abbott 143 

28.  Dr.  J.  Frank  McKinley 167 

29.  Dr.  John  R.  Francis 183 

30.  George  W,  Williams 187 

9 


lo  ILLUSTRATIONS 

31.  Ferdinand  L.  Barnett ^ .  207 

2,2.  John  B.  French 239 

ZZ'  Dr.  I.  B.  Scott 257 

34.  Bishop  Daniel  A.   Payne 263 

35.  Hon.   R.   L.   Smith 287 

2.6.  Hon.  H.  A.  Rucker 311 

2.7.  Frederick  Douglas    335 

38.  Louis  B.  Anderson 339 

39.  Hon,  Wm.   L.   Martin 347 

40.  E.  J.  Cooper 361 

41.  Mrs.  Fannie  Barrier  Williams 378 

42.  Mrs.  Haydee  Campbell 380 

43.  Miss  Helen  Abbott 381 

44.  Mrs.  Anna  J.  Cooper 385 

45.  Miss  Anna  Jones 388 

46.  Miss  Sarah  A.  Blocker 389 

47.  Mrs.  Josephine  St.  Pierre  Ruffin 391 

48.  Miss   Lulu   Love 394 

49.  Miss  Lutie  A.  Lytle 395 

50.  Mary  C.  Jackson 398 

51.  Mrs.  Henrietta  M.  Archer 399 

52.  Mrs.  John  R.  Francis 403 

53.  Mrs.  Mary  Church  Terrell 407 

54.  Mrs.  Hart 409 

55.  Ida  Gray  Nelson,  D.  D.  S 412 

56.  Belle  Garnet   413 

57-  S.  J.   Evans '415 

58.  Mrs.   C.  S.  Smith 419 

59-  Miss    Mattie    B.    Davis 422 

60.  Mrs.  Mary  L.  Davenport 423 

61.  Mrs.  Booker  T.  Washington 425 


A    NEW    NEGRO    FOR    A    NEW 
CENTURY. 


CHAPTER  I. 
CAUSE  OF  THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR. 

At  bottom  it  will  be  found  that  most  wars  be- 
tween nations  have  had  a  basis  in  self-interest  or  in 
sentiment.  Territorial  encroachment  in  one  phase 
and  another  has  been  the  provocation  of  most 
wars  in  Europe  and  Asia  and  Africa  since  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Roman  Empire,  which  itself 
had  been  built  up  and  consolidated  by  the  sys- 
tematic conquest  of  weaker  tribes  and  nations. 
The  wars  of  the  Crusaders,  the  War  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, and  the  French  Revolution  in  its  initial 
stages,  were  exceptions  to  the  rule.  They  were 
primarily  wars  based  on  sentiment — religious  senti- 
ment, humane  sentiment,  ''the  rights  of  man,"  as 
some  of  the  demagogues — of  whom  the  American, 
Thomas  Paine,  was  one  of  the  most  forceful,  con- 
spicuous and  industrious — of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion were  wont  to  characterize  it. 

Our  own  War  of  the  Rebellion,  one  of  the  great- 
est wars  of  modern  times,  when  the  numbers  en- 
gaged in  it  and  the  extent  of  territory  affected  are 
considered,  was  primarily  a  war  based  on  senti- 
ment. The  long  but  peaceful  contest  of  the  Aboli- 
tionists against  the  Slave  Power  had  aroused  the 

11 


12  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

whole  country,  so  that  everywhere,  in  every  State 
in  the  Union,  there  was  a  sharp  division  of  opinion 
among  the  people,  often  extending  to  the  home 
circle;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  question 
would  still  have  remained  unsettled,  and  that  we 
should  now  be  agitating  it,  if  the  Slave  Power  had 
been  content  to  allow  slave  territory  to  remain  re- 
stricted to  the  Southern  States.  When  it  reached 
out  to  invade  free  soil  through  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  and  to  force  Kansas  into  the  Union  as  a  slave 
State,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  even  the  balance 
of  political  power  between  the  free  and  slave  States, 
then  the  C[uestion  passed  beyond  the  stage,  of  senti- 
ment, in  which  the  slave  was  little  thought  of  or 
considered,  and  became  one  of  selfish  interest  on 
the  part  both  of  the  North  and  the  South.  The 
free  labor  of  the  Northern  States,  and  all  the  States 
not  in  the  slave  group  are  so  considered  here, 
would  not  tolerate  the  competition  of  slave  labor, 
and  upon  this  issue  the  contending  sections  came 
to  open  conflict. 

It  is  true  always,  however,  that  "God  makes  the 
wrath  of  man  to  serve  him,"  and  out  of  the  War 
of  the  Rebellion  the  slave  fought  his  way  to  free- 
dom. What  a  glorious  record  the  Afro-American 
made  in  that  war!  It  is  one  of  the  brightest  pages 
in  all  history.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  war  he 
was  not  even  allowed  to  drive  the  teams  or  to  throw 
up  breastworks  for  the  Union  army;  before  the 
close  of  the  war  he  was  a  regularly  enlisted  soldier 
to  the  number  of  200,000,  who  had  fought  with 
such  valor,  such  heroism,  from  Battery  \\"agner  to 
Fort  Fisher,  from  Newmarket  Heights  to  Peters- 
burg, that  when  the  victorious  Union  army  at  last 


4"^^^ 


-.  '.3^" 


CHAS.    E.   YOUNG, 

First  Lieutenant  of  Regular  Army,  Graduate  of  West  Point 

Academy,  and  Major  of  Volunteers  in  Cuba. 

13 


14  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOk 

marched  into  Richmond,  the  fallen  and  deserted 
capitol  of  the  Lost  Cause,  he  was  accorded  the 
place  of  honor  at  the  head  of  the  column!  In 
the  sententious  language  of  General  Benjamin  F. 
Butler — who  first  declared  the  straggling  refugees 
to  be  ''contraband  of  war"  and  put  them  to  work — 
''the  colored  troops  fought  nobly."  So  they  did; 
so  nobly  that  never  more  in  the  lifetime  of  our 
grand  Republic  will  a  patriotic  white  soldier  refuse 
to  allow  a  black  soldier  to  drink  out  of  his  canteen, 
as  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  of  the  Rough  Rid- 
ers expressed  it,  after  fateful  San  Juan  Hill,  thirty- 
six  years  after  Colonel  Robert  Gould  Shaw  was 
"buried  with  his  'niggers'  "  in  the  silver  sands  of 
Morris  Island. 

The  Spanish-American  war  was  precipitated  by 
a  sentiment  of  revenge  and  retaliation,  more  than 
as  a  matter  of  justice  to  the  struggling  Cubans. 
It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  the  United  States 
would  not  have  been  forced  ultimately  to  put  a 
period  to  Spanish  rule  on  the  American  continent, 
as  the  nature  of  that  rule  was  not  only  barbarous 
and  inhuman  to  the  last  degree,  "the  open  sore 
of  the  century,"  but  it  was  a  heavy  expense  to  this 
country  in  the  necessity  it  entailed  of  preserving 
the  neutrality  laws — policing  the  coast  to  prevent 
blockade  running  with  munitions  of  war  and  the 
like — and  in  the  interruption  to  commerce  which 
the  periodical  uprising  of  the  Cubans  against  Span- 
ish rule  it  made  necessary.  How  expensive  to  this 
country  this  constant  interruption  of  trade  relations 
was  for  more  than  half  a  century,  it  is  not  easy  to 
estimate,  but  it  is  one  of  the  impelling  considera- 
tions in  the  declaration  of  war  which  cannot  be 


A  NEW  CENTURY  15 

overlooked.  Of  course,  at  bottom,  the  savage 
methods  of  warfare  adopted  by  the  Spaniards 
against  the  Cubans  not  only  shocked  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  but  of  the  world,  and  did 
more  to  create  sympathy  for  the  struggling  Cubans 
than  anything  else.  Weylerism  became  the 
synonym  of  barbarous  warfare  all  over  the  globe, 
and  will  perhaps  secure  a  permanent  place  in  the 
copious  lierature  of  brutality. 

Then  the  heroic  struggles  of  the  Cubans  for 
independence  in  the  Ten  Years'  War,  beginning  in 
1868,  and  the  last  war  begun  in  1895,  appealed  to 
all  that  is  chivalric  and  noble  in  the  American 
character.  Maximo  Gomez,  the  grand  old  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Cuban  forces,  and  Antonio 
Maceo,  the  Phil  Sheridan  of  the  Cubans,  the  in- 
vincible mulatto  leader,  who  gave  his  life  for  Cuba 
as  his  eight  brothers  have  done  before  him,  and 
Quintin  Bandera,  ''the  black  thunderbolt,"  and 
Jose  Marti  and  a  hundred  others,  by  their  brilliancy 
and  tenacity  and  humanity,  invited  the  sympathy 
of  Christian  mankind  everywhere.  What  a  mag- 
nificent galaxy  of  military  heroes  the  Cubans  have 
furnished  to  the  history  of  Liberty!  It  is  un- 
matched in  the  annals  of  any  land,  except  our  own. 
It  will  forever  remain  the  chief  pride  and  glory  of 
the  people  of  Cuba,  whatever  fate  the  future  may 
have  in  store  for  them,  and  they  deserve  the  best. 

But  the  American  people  were  reluctant  to  take 
any  part  in  the  internal  affairs  of  a  friendly  power, 
such  as  Spain  was.  They  could  not  do  so,  in  the 
absence  of  justifiable  provocation,  without  exciting 
the  suspicion  and  perhaps  the  open  antagonism  of 
European  powers  in  sympathy  with  the  Spanish 


i6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

crown  and  jealous  of  the  growing  power  of  the 
United  States.  Great  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  on  President  Grant  in  the  Ten  Years'  War  to 
interpose  the  power  of  the  United  States  between 
the  belligerents,  but  he  steered  clear  of  entangling 
alliances,  contenting  himself  with  cleaving  close  to 
the  advice  given  by  George  Washington  when  he 
retired  to  Mount  Vernon,  and  insisting  upon  a 
strict  observance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  both  of 
which,  as  a  result  of  the  Spanish-American  War, 
have  got  "lost  in  the  shuffle,"  so  to  speak,  whether 
for  national  weal  or  woe  remains  to  be  seen.  When 
the  war  of  1895  broke  out  it  was  not  expected  that 
it  would  last  long,  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  were  disposed  to  allow  Spain  a  reasonable 
time  to  suppress  it.  President  Cleveland  w^as  de- 
cidedly opposed  to  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  between  Spain  and  the  insurgents. 
Nevertheless,  in  February,  1896,  Congress  passed 
the  following  joint  resolutions: 

''Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
that  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  a  condition  of  pub- 
lic war  exists  between  the  Government  of  Spain 
and  the  Government  for  some  time  maintained  by 
force  of  arms  by  the  people  of  Cuba;  and  that  the 
United  States  should  maintain  a  strict  neutrality 
between  the  contending  powers,  according  to  each 
all  the  rights  of  belligerents  in  the  ports  and  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States. 

"Resolved,  further,  that  the  friendly  offices  of 
the  United  States  should  be  offered  by  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  Spanish  Government  for  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  independence  of  Cuba." 


GEN.  MAXIMO   GOMEZ, 

Commander-in-Chief   of  the    Cuban   Army  in  the   Struggle 
for  Freedom, 


17 


i8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

The  two  years  intervening  between  1896,  when 
the  joint  resolution  was  adopted,  and  1898,  were 
years  of  momentous  events  in  Cuba  and  of  diplo- 
matic friction  between  the  United  States  and 
Spain,  of  which  the  recall  of  the  Spanish  minister, 
De  Lome,  in  February,  for  writing  a  disparaging 
letter  about  President  McKinley,  was  an  incident. 
Indeed  the  tension  between  the  two  countries 
grew^  more  and  more  strained  as  the  conflict  in 
Cuba  proceeded.  A  large  section  of  the  American 
people  and  press  insisted  upon  American  interven- 
tion, which  clamor  was  persistently  resented  by  the 
haughty  Spanish  Government.  But  President  Mc- 
Kinley, like  President  Cleveland,  was  determined 
to  avert  war  if  possible.  He  used  the  great  powers 
of  his  high  office  in  the  cause  of  peace.  But  there 
is  "a  Divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew 
them  as  we  may." 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1898,  the  battleship 
Maine  glided  into  the  harbor  of  Havana.  She 
went  there  on  an  errand  of  peace  as  the  representa- 
tive of  a  friendly  power.  She  was  located  in  the 
harbor  by  representatives  of  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment, who  knew  where  the  torpedo  mines  were 
located.  On  the  15th  of  February  the  battleship 
Maine  was  blown  to  atoms  by  a  floating  mine, 
together  with  266  American  sailors,  of  whom  more 
than  thirty  were  Afro-Americans.  A  chronicler  of 
the  incident  says:  "A  wave  of  horror  and  indig- 
nation swept  over  the  country.  The  belief  was 
instinctive  that  the  act  was  the  product  of  treach- 
ery. The  fury  of  the  people  was  restrained  only 
by  the  urgent  request  of  the  Captain  of  the  Maine 
in  a  dispatch  to  the  Navy  Department,  that  ''judg- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  19 

ment  be  suspended  until  an  official  investigation 

could  be  had." 

The  board  of  inquiry  appointed  by  the  President 
reported  that  "the  loss  of  the  Maine  was  not  m  any 
respect  due  to  fault  or  negligence  on  the  part  oi 
any  of  the  officers  or  members  of  her  crew;  that 
the  ship  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  of  a  sub- 
marine mine,  which  caused  the  partial  explosion  of 
two  or  more  of  her  forward  magazines;  and  that 
no  evidence  has  been  obtained  fixing  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  destruction  of  the  Maine  upon  any 
person  or  persons."     By  the  time  this  report  was 
submitted  the  war  fever  was  intense.     Congress 
had  appropriated  $50,000,000  for  the  national  de- 
fense, and  the  President  fought  for  delay  m  order 
that  the  countrv  might  be  prepared  when  the  issue 
should  be  joined.     March  28  the  President  sub- 
mitted to  Congress  the  findings  of  the  board  of 
inquiry  in  the  destruction  of  the  Maine.     Consul- 
General  Lee  left  Havana  April  10,  thus  severing 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  Spanish  authority  in 
the  island.     April  18,  1898,  Congress  adopted  the 
following  declaration  of  war,  which  was  signed  by 
the  President  April  20:  ^  ,  •  u  1, 

^'Whereas,  The  abhorrent  conditions  which  have 
existed  for  more  than  three  years  in  the  Island  of 
Cuba,  so  near  our  own  borders,  have  shocked  the 
moral  sense  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  have 
been  a  disgrace  to  Christian  civihzation,  culminat- 
ing as  they  have  in  the  destruction  of  a  United 
States  battleship  with  266  of  its  officers  and  crew, 
while  on  a  friendlv  visit  in  the  harbor  of  Havana, 
and  cannot  longer  be  endured,  as  has  been  set  forth 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  his  mes- 


20  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

sage  to  Congress  of  April  1 1,  1898,  upon  which  the 
action  of  Congress  was  invited;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  By  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Con- 
gress assembled — 

''First — That  the  people  of  the  Island  of  Cuba 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent. 

^'Second — That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  United 
States  to  demand,  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  does  hereby  demand,  that  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Spain  at  once  relinquish  its  authority 
and  government  in  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and  with- 
draw its  land  and  naval  forces  from  Cuba  and 
Cuban  waters. 

"Third— That  the  President  of  the  United  States 
be,  and  he  hereby  is,  directed  and  empowered  to 
use  the  entire  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  call  into  the  actual  service  of  the 
United  States  the  militia  of  the  several  States,  to 
such  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  these  res- 
olutions into  efTect. 

"Fourth — That  the  United  States  hereby  dis- 
claims any  disposition  or  intention  to  exercise 
sovereignty,  jurisdiction  or  control  over  said  island, 
except  for  the  pacification  thereof,  and  asserts  its 
determination  when  that  is  completed  to  leave  the 
government  and  control  of  the  island  to  its  peo- 
ple." 

Minister  Stewart  L.  Woodford  was  not  allowed 
by  the  Spanish  Government  to  present  the  ultima- 
tum of  the  United  States,  his  passports  having  been 
handed  to  him  at  7  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  April 
21,  and  he  left  Madrid,  from  which  severance  of 
diplomatic  relations  dat-es  the  actual  beginning  of 


LIEUTENANT  JOHN  H.  ALEXANDER, 
Gradnate  of  West  Point. 


22  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  war.  April  24  the  Queen  Regent  formally 
communicated  to  the  Spanish  Cortes  the  existence 
of  war.  April  25  the  American  Congress  passed 
the  following  bill  without  a  division: 

*'Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  United  States  of  America  in 
Congress  assembled — 

"First — That  war  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  de- 
dared  to  exist,  and  that  war  has  existed  since  the 
2ist  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1898,  including  said  day, 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Spain. 

"Second — That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  be,  and  he  hereby  is,  directed  and  empow- 
ered to  use  the  entire  land  and  naval  forces  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  call  into  the  actual  service 
of  the  United  States  the  militia  of  the  several 
States,  to  such  extent  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry 
this  act  into  effect." 

April  21  the  blockade  of  the  ports  of  Cuba  was 
proclaimed  and  Admiral  Sampson's  squadron  was 
ordered  to  enforce  it,  and  on  April  23  a  call  for 
125,000  volunteers  was  issued.  June  9  the  House 
passed  a  war  revenue  act  and  the  Senate  concurred 
in  it  June  10.  The  first  decisive  battle  of  the  war 
was  fought  in  Manila  Bay,  Philippine  Islands,  May 
I,  1898,  when  Admiral  George  Dewey's  fleet  de- 
stroyed the  Spanish  fleet. 


CHAPTER  11. 

AFRO-AMERICAN    VOLUNTEERS. 

Never  before  since  the  war  of  1812  had  the 
RepubHc  had  an  opportunity  to  test  the  temper 
of  the  people  as  to  their  loyalty  in  facing  a  foreign 
enemy.  The  Civil  War  had  estranged  the  sections 
almost  as  much  as  the  agitation  of  the  slave  ques- 
tion had;  for  it  left  a  bitterness  in  its  resultsi — 
such  as  the  manumission  and  enfranchisement  of 
the  late  slaves  and  the  reconstruction  policy,  forced 
upon  the  country  by  that  uncompromising  radical, 
Representative  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania 
— which  seemed  to  be  intensified  rather  than  tem- 
pered by  time.  The  white  people  of  the  Southern 
States  resented  the  entire  policy  forced  upon  them 
as  the  result  of  the  war,  and  combined  against  the 
Northern  States  in  politics,  State  and  National,  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  to  naught,  as  far  as  such 
combination  could  effect  it  the  policy  so  forced 
upon  them.  The  bitterness  rankled  in  their  souls 
all  the  more  as  the  war  had  destroyed  well  nigh  all 
their  wealth,  along  wath  it  their  slave  property, 
which  had  become  co-equal  in  citizenship;  a  trans- 
formation in  itself  of  the  most  radical  and  provok- 
ing character,  from  the  standpoint  of  those  who, 
for  two  centuries  and  more,  had  been  taught  to 
and  did  regard  the  African  as  less  than  human,  as 
simply  property. 

But  the  declaration  of  war  with  Spain  was  re- 
sponded to  with  a  fervor  and  enthusiasm  m  every 

23 


54  A  NBIV  NECRO  FOR 

State  of  the  Union,  among  all  the  race  elements  of 
the  population,  that  put  at  rest  forever  any  linger- 
ing suspicion  that  the  Republic  would  be  divided  in 
sentiment  in  the  face  of  a  foreign  foe.  Nowhere 
in  the  country  was  more  enthusiasm  displayed  than 
in  the  Southern  States.  The  old  flag,  the  stars 
and  stripes,  for  the  first  time  since  i860  w-as  dis- 
played everywhere  in  the  Southern  States.  This 
was,  too  all  the  more  surprising,  w'hen  it  is  remem- 
bered that  of  the  total  Cuban  population  of  1,631,- 
687,  528,998  are  classed  as  negroes  and  mulattoes, 
and  that  these  latter,  in  all  the  revolutions  in  Cuba, 
have  been,  for  the  most  'part,  the  inspiration  in 
council  and  backbone  in  the  field,  for  no  one  will 
dispute  the  power  and  influence  in  civil  life  of  such 
men  as  the  brilliant  journalist  and  agitator,  Juan 
Guelberto  Gomez,  who  lived  in  exile  as  much  as  in 
Cuba,  and  in  military  life  of  such  mien  as  General 
Antonio  Maceo  and  his  eight  brothers.  General 
Flores  Crombet,  a  veteran  of  the  Ten  Years'  War, 
who  was  killed  early  in  the  war  of  1895,  General 
Quintin  Bandera  and  a  host  of  others,  less  re- 
nowned but  equally  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Cuba 
and  its  independence  of  Spanish  tyranny.  When 
these  facts  are  properly  weighed  against  the  pro- 
nounced prejudice  of  the  Southern  whites  against 
people  of  the  African  race,  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  whites  of  the  Southern  States  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  Cubans  and  responded  to  the 
President's  call  for  State  troops  and  volunteers 
would  seem  to  be  inexplicable,  and  is  upon  the 
surface. 

It  may  be  that  the  course  pursued  in  the  first 
instance  by  President  McKinley  in  retaining  Gen- 


GENERAL  ANTONIO  MACEO. 

This   late   General   was   second  in   command  of  the   Cuban 
Army. 


25 


26  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

eral  Fitz  lUgh  Lee,  of  Virginia,  who  was  appointed 
by  President  Cleveland,  as  Consul-General  at 
Havana,  when  Republicans  all  over  the  country 
were  clamoring  for  his  removal,  had  much  to  do 
with  arousing  the  enthusiasm  of  the  white  people 
of  the  Southern  States  in  the  Cuban  ''war  for  inde- 
pendence and  humanity."  Very  true  it  is  that  the 
President's  course  in  retaining  General  Lee  at 
Havana,  and  in  other  acts  of  liberalism  shown  by 
him  towards  the  white  people  of  the  Southern 
States,  did  much  to  enlist  the  active  sympathy  and 
support  of  the  Southern  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives in  Congress  in  the  war  policy,  most  of  them 
voting  the  $50,000,000  ^var  credit  and  supporting 
other  ne  essary  measures  for  the  successful  prose- 
cution of  the  war. 

Then  in  the  distribution  of  military  honors  the 
President  was  extremely  generous  to  the  whites 
of  the  South,  who  were  given  three  of  the  Major- 
Generals  of  Volunteers,  viz.:  General  Fitzhugh 
Lee,  General  Joseph  Wheeler,  General  M.  C.  But- 
ler. They  also  fared  equally  well  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  all  the  other  military  appointments.  Be- 
cause of  all  these  reasons,  creditable  alike  to  the 
President  and  the  white  men  of  the  South,  the  bit- 
terness engendered  by  the  Civil  War,  which  had 
so  long  estranged  the  sections,  was  greatly  soft- 
ened, and  made  the  Spanish-American  War  one  of 
the  most  popular  in  the  history  of  the  country. 
The  white  South  saw  that  it  was  treated  as  fairly 
as  the  white  North,  and  when  men  have  that  con- 
viction they  are  always  liable  to  display  a  magna- 
nimity and  enthusiasm  in  a  given  cause  which  are 
the  best  portents  of  its  probable  success.     At  any 


A  NEW  CENTURY  27 

rate,  it  proved  to  be  so  in  the  Spanish-American 
War,  as  in  all  our  wars  of  the  past,  and  will  do  so 
in  all  our  wars  of  the  future.  A  people  numerically 
as  strong  and  sustained  by  such  inexhaustible  and 
diversified  material  resources  as  those  of  the  United 
States,  when  moved  by  a  common  purpose  and 
acting  together,  must  prove,  all  things  being  equal, 
invincible  in  a  conflict  with  any  existing  single  for- 
eign power.  It  has  always  been  so  in  the  past — 
in  the  two  wars  with  Great  Britain,  in  the  Mexican 
War  and  in  the  Spanish- American  War. 

The  white  people  of  the  Southern  States,  al- 
though uniformly  opposed  in  politics  to  the  admin- 
istration of  President  McKinley,  have  no  room 
whatever  for  complaint  in  the  matter  of 
their  treatment  in  the  Spanish  War.  They 
were  given  their  full  share  of  the  military 
and  naval  honors,  of  high  and  low  de- 
gree, and  the  quotas  of  their  States  were  accepted 
upon  an  equal  footing  with  those  of  the  other 
States  of  the  Union.  Nor  was  this  confidence  mis- 
placed. As  Consul-General  at  Havana,  General 
Lee  sustained  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  Repub- 
Hc  with  marked  courage  and  ability;  Major-Gen- 
eral  Joseph  Wheeler  came  out  of  the  conflict  as  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  war,  as  did  also  Lieutenant 
Henr}'  Pearson  Hobson,  whose  sinking  of  the  i\Ier- 
rimac  at  the  mouth  of  Santiago  harbor  was  one  of 
the  most  daring  and  heroic  exploits  in  naval  war- 
fare. It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  in  the 
Santiago  campaign  Major-General  Wheeler  had  in 
his  command  one  squadron  of  four  troops  each  of 
the  fighting  black  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry, 
United  States  Regulars.     Thirty-six  years  before 


28  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  little  General  was  leading  Confederate  soldiers 
in  the  effort  to  perpetuate  the  slavery  of  black  men 
and  giving  scant  quarter  to  black  soldiers  in  the 
uniform  of  the  United  States  who  came  his  way. 
There  w'as  no  more  significant  feature  in  the 
Spanish-American  War  than  General  \Yheeler  lead- 
ing black  regulars  against  the  Spaniards  to  free 
black  Cubans. 

The  Afro-American  citizens  of  the  United 
States  W'Cre  as  enthusiastic  as  others  to  enlist  and 
fight.  Everywhere,  in  the  North  and  the  South, 
they  showed  willingness  and  eagerness  to  enlist. 
There  were  no  cowards  among  them,  as  there  had 
been  none  in  the  Civil  War,  and  as  there  will  be 
none  in  any  other  crisis  the  Republic  may  be  called 
upon  to  face.  But  they  were  to  be  subjected  to 
very  great  and  mortifying  disappointment.  Un- 
der the  conditions  of  the  first  call  for  volunteers 
only  the  organized  militia  of  the  States  was  ac- 
ceptable. This  rule  barred  the  Afro-American  out 
entirely.  And  the  President  had  not  designated 
any  Afro-Americans  to  be  general  staff  or  line  offi- 
cers. In  the  Northern  and  Western  States  the 
Afro-Americans  are  so  relatively  few  in  number 
that  comparatively  few  of  them  are  connected  with 
the  State  militia,  those  in  so  great  a  State  as  New- 
York,  for  instance,  being  without  any  representa- 
tion whatever.  A  few^  were  represented  in  other 
Northern  States,  to  whom  appropriate  reference 
will  be  made  at  the  proper  time. 

The  Afro- Americans  of  the  Northern  and  West- 
ern States  who  thus  found  themselves  excluded 
from  participation  in  the  war,  because  they  w^ere 
Mot  represented,   except  in  isolated  instances,  in 


A  NEW  CENTURY  29 

the  State  militia,  more  generally  styled  the  Nation- 
al Guard,  made  frantic  and  heroic  efforts  to  break 
through  the  stone  wall  and  get  into  the  Avar  any- 
how.    Volunteer  regiments  were  raised  in  many 
instances,  and  first  offered  to  the  State  authorities, 
which,   under  the  la.w    governing    the    National 
Guard,  they  could  not  accept.     Tender  was  then 
made  to  the  President  direct,  who  referred  all  such 
applications  to  the  War  Department,  and  they  were 
not  heard  of  any  more.     The  War  Department 
was  not  in  a  position  to  accept  volunteers  w^ho  were 
not  designated  by  the  States.     Congress  under- 
took to  remedy  the  defect  by  authorizing  the  form- 
ation of  ten  immune  regiments,  but  this  came  to 
naught,  because  the  War  Department  insisted  upon 
giving  the  staff  and  line  officers  (above  the  grade 
of  second  lieutenants)  to  white  men.     The  Afro- 
Americans  would  not  tolerate  this;  consequently 
only  four  Afro- American  regiments  were  recruited 
under  this  act— the  Seventh,  Eighth,   Ninth  and 
Tenth — and  they  were  officered  by  white  men  un- 
der protest  and  threats  of  rebellion  on  the  part  of 
the  men.     None  of  these  regiments  saw  active  ser- 
vice, although  some  of  them  did  a  little  garrison 
duty  in  CulDa. 

This  question  of  officering  Afro- American  troops 
became  a  burning  one  during  the  existence  of  the 
war,  and  it  is  one  now.  It  is  doubtful  if  a  regmient 
so  officered  could  be  recruited  in  any  State  by  State 
or  Federal  authority. 

The  writer  of  this  history  is  under  obligation  to 
Congressman  George  H.  White,  of  North  Carolina, 
for  securing  a  complete  Hst  of  the  Afro-American 
volunteers  mustered  into  the  service  from,  the  Ad- 


30  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

jutant-General  of  the  United  States  Army,  which 
is  as  follows: 

Third  Alabama  Volunteer  Infantry,  First  Brig- 
ade, second  division.  Fourth  Army  Corps. 

Eighth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry,  not  brigaded. 

Companies  A  and  B,  Indiana  Volunteer  Infan- 
try, not  brigaded. 

Thirty-third  Kansas  Volunteer  Infantry,  not 
brigaded. 

Ninth  Ohio  Battalion,  Volunteer  Infantry,  Sec- 
ond Brigade,  first  division.  Second  Army  Corps. 

Sixth  Virginia  Volunteer  Infantry,  Third  Brig- 
ade, second  division,  First  Army  Corps  (transferred 
later  to  the  Third  Brigade,  first  division.  First 
Army  Corps.) 

Seventh  United  States  Volunteer  Infantry,  Third 
Brigade,  first  division,  First  Army  Corps. 

Eighth  United  States  Volunteer  Infantry,  not 
brigaded. 

Ninth  United  States  Volunteer  Infantry,  not 
brigaded. 

Tenth  United  States  Volunteer  Infantry,  First 
Brigade,  third  division,  First  Army  Corps. 

The  Third  North  Carolina  Volunteer  Infantry 
was  called  out  by  Governor  Russell  and  went  into 
camp  at  Camp  Russell,  but  it  was  not  mustered  into 
the  United  States  service.  It  was  of^cered 
throughout  by  Afro-Americans,  James  H.  Young 
being  the  colonel  commanding.  The  only  other 
regiment  so  officered  was  the  Eighth  lUinois,  Colo- 
nel J.  R.  Marshall  commanding.  This  regiment 
did  garrison  duty  in  the  Province  of  Santiago  for 
some  time  after  the  war,  and  Colonel  Marshall 
acted  for  a  time  as  governor  of  San  Luis.       The 


JAMES  H.  YOUNG, 
Colonel  Thiid  North  Carolina  Volunteer  Infantry,  Ralei 

N.  C. 


31 


32  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Ninth  Ohio  Battalion  was  commanded  by  Brevet 
Major  Charles  Young,  a  lieutenant  in  the  regular 
army,  and  the  only  Afro-American  holding  such  a 
position  in  the  regular  army.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
the  West  Point  Military  Academy.  His  command 
was  stationed  first  at  Camp  Alger,  Va.,  and  then 
transferred  to  Camp  Meade,  Pa.,  and  from  there 
to  Summerville,  S.  C,  where  it  was  finally  muster- 
ed out.  The  Twenty-third  Kansas  was  ofBcered  by 
Afro-Americans,  with  the  exception  of  colonel  and 
lieutenant  colonel.  The  best-known  captain  of 
the  regiment,  which  did  garrison  duty  in  Cuba  for 
a  short  while,  was  John  L.  Waller,  ex-United 
States  Consul  to  Madagascar,  who  got  into  trouble 
with  the  French  authorities  after  he  was  superseded 
in  the  consulship  by  a  Mr.  Witte,  of  Georgia, 
presumably  because  of  a  valuable  concession  of 
rubber  land  which  he  had  secured  from  the  Queen 
of  Madagascar  before  the  French  assumed  the  pro- 
tectorate of  the  island.  The  Third  Alabama  and 
Sixth  Virginia  battalions  were  mustered  into  the 
service  with  Afro-American  officers,  but  for  some 
unexplained  reason  these  were  changed  for  white 
officers,  and  the  action  came  near  causing  a  riot  in 
both  regiments.  The  four  immune  regiments  were 
officered  by  white  men,  with  the  exception  of  the 
second  lieutenants. 

Company  L,  Sixth  Massachusetts  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, has  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  Afro- 
American  company  mustered  into  the  service  as  a 
part  of  a  white  regiment.  It  was  commanded  by 
Captain  Williams,  and  went  to  Porto  Rico  with 
the  expedition  commanded  by  Major-General 
Nelson  A.  Miles. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  33 

The  President  commissioned  about  one  hun- 
dred Afro-American  second  lieutenants  in  the  vol- 
unteer service.  Two  paymasters  were  appointed, 
with  the  rank  of  major — John  R.  Lynch,  of  Missis- 
sippi, an  ex-Congressman  and  ex-Fourth  Auditor 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Richard  R.  Wright  of  Geor- 
gia, President  of  the  State  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College.  Mr.  Wright  resigned  after  the 
war,  but  Major  Lynch  has  been  continued  in  the 
service.  Rev.  C.  T.  Walker,  of  Georgia,  and  Rev. 
Richard  Carroll,  of  South  Carolina,  were  commis- 
sioned as  chaplains  in  the  volunteer  service. 

The  absence  of  Afro-American  troops  from  the 
quotas  of  the  Southern  States  will  be  noted.  The 
explanation  is  that  it  is  not  the  policy  of  those 
States  to  comprehend  such  troops  in  their  militia. 
Virginia,  South  Carolina,  North  CaroHna,  Georgia 
and  Alabama  were  exceptions. 

The  governors  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and 
Alabama  offered  these  troops,  with  their  Afro- 
American  officers,  when  it  was  necessary  to  fill  out 
the  quotas  of  their  States  called  for  by  the  Presi- 
dent. Those  of  Virginia  and  Alabama  were  mus- 
tered into  the  United  States  service,  but  the  officers 
were  finally  changed  to  white  men.  The  North 
Carolina  regiment  was  not  mustered  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States.  The  governors  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  refused  to  offer  any 
such  troops,  with  the  proviso  that  they  would  do 
so  when  there  were  no  longer  any  white  troops 
to  offer. 

We  hope  the  colored  troops  in  the  Philippines, 
which  are  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  In- 
fantry, portions  of  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry, 


34  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  the  Forty-eighth  and  Forty-ninth  Volunteer 
Regiments,  officered  by  colored  men,  will  give  a 
good  account  of  themselves. 

There  is  no  room  for  doubt  that  if  the  war  had 
been  prolonged  and  Afro-American  volunteers 
could  have  faced  the  enemy,  they  would  have  given 
a  good  account  of  themselves,  as  did  the  volun- 
teers in  the  Civil  War  and  the  four  regiments  of 
regulars  in  the  Santiago  campaign  under  Major- 
General  William  R.  Shafter. 


COL.   JOHN   R.    MARSHALL, 
Colonel    of   the    Eighth    Illinois    Infantry    in    the    Spanish- 
American    War. 


35 


CHAPTER  III. 

AFRO-AMERICAN  REGULARS  IN  CUBA. 

There  are  four  regiments  of  Afro-American  sol- 
diers in  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States. 
They  are  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  In- 
fantry and  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry.  These 
four  regiments  or  parts  of  them  were  fortunate 
enough  to  go  to  Cuba  and  to  participate  in  all  the 
hard  fighting  there  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  brief  campaign.  They  did  not  go  to  Cuba 
to  win  glory  or  to  demonstrate  the  courage  and 
capacity  of  their  race  in  the  tent  and  the  field. 
They  went  to  Cuba  already  covered  with  glory, 
earned  in  a  hundred  battles  in  the  Civil  War  and  in 
all  the  Indian  wars  in  the  far  West,  from  1866, 
when  the  regiments  w^ere  first  mustered  in  the  ser- 
vice at  New  Orleans,  to  the  battle  of  San  Juan 
Hill,  thirty-two  years  later,  in  1898. 

It  seems  incredible,  in  view  of  the  record  these 
regiments  have  made  in  the  regular  army,  and  the 
record  the  Afro-American  regiments  made  in  the 
Civil  War,  a  record  any  race  may  well  be  proud  of, 
that  there  should  have  been  any  one  in  the  Republic 
who  doubted  the  capacity  and  courage  of  Afro- 
American  soldiers;  and  yet  there  were  plenty  of 
people  who  did  so,  and  who  were  greatly  surprised 
and  taken  back  when  these  veterans  in  Cuba,  these 
"smoked  Yankees,"  as  the  affrighted  Spaniards 
called  them — 

36 


A  NEW  CENTURY  37 

'^Storm'd  at  with  shot  and  shell, 
While  horse  and  hero  fell, 
They  who  had  fought  so  well, 
Came  through  the  jaws  of  Death, 
Back  from  the  mouth  of  Hell, 
All  that  was  left  of  them — " 

emerging  on  the  top  of  El  Caney  and  San  Juan 
Hill,  in  a  mad  charge,  singing  as  they  mowed  down 
the  enemy:  "There'll  Be  a  Hot  Time  in  the  Old 
Town  To-night."  The  incredulity  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for  upon  the  theory  that  in  the  main  one 
generation  is  ignorant  of  what  another  did,  despite 
the  activity  of  the  daily  and  periodical  press  and  of 
the  making  of  books  without  number.  Then,  too, 
there  is  a  deep-seated  disposition  among  the  w^hite 
Americans  to  discredit  the  Afro-Americans,  how- 
ever worthily  they  acquit  themselves,  in  war  or 
peace.  This  disposition  was  shown  in  a  very 
marked  and  provoking  degree  in  the  news  dis- 
patches from  Cuba  during  the  days  of  active  hos- 
tilities, when  the  part  taken  by  Afro- American  sol- 
diers was  minimized  or  slurred  over,  except  in  rare 
instances.  It  was  not  until  after  the  war  was  over, 
and  those  who  took  part  in  it  returned  to  the 
United  States  and  gave  their  side  of  the  story  that 
the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  came  out. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  June,  1898,  the 
convoy  of  the  Fifth  Army  Corps  arrived  off  Guan- 
tanamo  Bay,  and  on  June  22  the  disembarkation 
was  begun  at  Baiquiri.  By  the  evening  of  the 
24th  the  troops  wxre  all  ashore.  The  Fifth  Army 
Corps  was  divided  into  the  following  brigades: 


38  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

THE  SANTIAGO  CAMPAIGN. 

Fifth  Army  Corps,  Major-General  William  R. 
Shafter  commanding.  First  Division,  Major-Gen- 
eral  J.  F.  Kent  commanding. 

First  Brigade) — Sixth  and  Sixteenth  United 
States  Infantry  and  Seventy-first  New  York  Vol- 
unteer Infantry. 

Second  Brigade — Second,  Tenth  and  Twenty- 
first  United  States  Infantry. 

Third  Brigade — Ninth,  Thirteenth  and  Twenty- 
fourth  United  States  Infantry. 

Second  Division,  Major-General  H.  W.  Lawton 
commanding. 

First  Brigade — Eighth  and  Twenty-second 
United  States  Infantry  and  Second  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Infantry. 

Second  Brigade — First,  Fourth  and  Twenty- 
fifth  United  States  Infantry. 

Third  Brigade — Seventh,  Twelfth  and  Seven- 
teenth United  States  Infantry. 

Division  of  dismounted  cavalry,  Major-General 
Joseph  Wheeler  commanding. 

One  squadron  of  four  troops  draiwn  from  the 
Second,  Third,  Fifth,  Sixth,  Ninth  and  Tenth 
United  States  Cavalry. 

One  squadron  of  four  troops  draAvn  from  the 
First  United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry  (Rough 
Riders). 

The  artillery  consisted  of  Light  Batteries  E  and 
K,  First  United  States  Artillery,  and  Batteries  A 
and  F,  Second  United  States  Artillery,  commanded 
by  Major  J.  W.  Dillenback. 

Reinforcements  composed  of  General  Dufifield^s 


DR.  J.  WEBB   CURTIS, 
Physician  and  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Eighth  IlHnois  in 
Cuba  and  the  Forty-eighth  United  States  Volun- 
teers  in  the   PhiUppines. 


39 


40  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

brigade  joined  General  Shafter  later,  and  consisted 
of  the  Thirty-third  and  Thirty-fourth  Michigan 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  parts  of  two  dismounted 
squadrons  of  cavalry.  Lomia's  battery  of  heavy 
artillery  from  the  Fifth  Regiment,  United  States 
Artillery,  also  arrived  with  six  siege  mortars,  but 
they  were  not  disembarked. 

The  number  of  officers  in  the  expedition  was 
815,  and  16,072  men. 

The  Spanish  troops  offered  but  slight  resistance, 
and  General  Lawton's  division  reached  Siboney 
June  2y,  they  pushed  forward,  and  the  following 
day  the  place  was  occupied  by  General  Kent's  divis- 
ion. The  orders  were  that  Lawton's  division 
should,  on  June  24,  take  up  a  defensive  position 
between  Siboney  and  Santiago;  Kent's  division  was 
to  be  held  near  Santiago;  General  Bates  was  to 
support  General  Lawton;  General  Wheeler's  cav- 
alry division  was  to  occupy  the  rear  on  the  road  to 
Baiquiri.  General  Young's  brigade  of  Wheeler's 
division,  consisting  of  part  of  the  Tenth  United 
States  Cavalry  and  two  battalions  of  the  First  Vol- 
unteer Cavalry  (known  as  the  Rough  Riders), 
passed  Lawton  on  the  night  of  the  23-24,  and  was 
in  consequence  in  advance  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th.  On  the  Santiago  road,  some  three  miles 
from  Siboney,  there  is  a  strong  natural  position 
called  Las  Guasimas.  The  Spaniards  were  posted 
here  in  considerable  strength,  and  Young's  brigade 
was  taken  by  surprise.  After  a  short  but  fierce 
engagement  the  enemy  was  driven  from  its  posi- 
tion. 

It  was  in  this  engagement  that,  it  is  said,  the 
Tenth  Cavalry  saved  the  Rough  Riders  from  an- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  41 

nihilation,  but  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  in  his 
story  of  his  regiment  denies  this,  and  also  that, 
there  was  any  surprise.  A  great  many  members 
of  the  Tenth  make  the  claim  and  many  privates 
among  the  Rough  Riders  allowed  it.  In  his  story 
of  the  engagement  Colonel  Roosevelt  says:  ''Our 
men  behaved  very  well  indeed — white  regulars, 
colored  regulars  and  Rough  Riders  alike.  The 
newspaper  press  failed  to  do  full  justice  to  the 
white  regulars,  in  my  opinion,  from  the  simple  rea- 
son that  everybody  knew  they  would  fight,  where- 
as there  had  been  a  good  deal  of  question  as  to 
how  the  Rough  Riders,  who  were  volunteer  troops, 
and  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  who  were  colored,  would 
behave;  so  there  was  a  tendency  to  exalt  our  deeds 
at  the  expense  of  those  of  the  First  Regiment, 
whose  courage  and  good  conduct  were  taken  for 
granted." 

Captain  Charles  G.  Ayers  made  the  following 
report  to  General  Young,  June  2y,  1898  (annual 
report  of  the  Major-General  commanding  the 
army,  1898,  p.  355): 

**Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that  on  the 
24th  instant  two  commissioned  ofBcers  and  fifty- 
three  enlisted  men  of  Troop  E,  Tenth  Cavalry, 
went  into  action,  with  other  troops  of  the  brigade, 
against  the  regular  Spanish  infantry,  and  were 
placed  by  General  Young  in  person  in  support  of 
Captain  J.  W.  Watson's  (Tenth  Cavalry)  two 
Hotchkiss  guns,  and  also  to  support  the  troops  in 
our  front  should  they  need  it.  The  position  was 
in  plain  view  of  the  Spaniards,  who  occupied  a 
high  ridge  and  had  the  exact  range;  but  pursuant 
to  their  instructions  they  held  their  position  one 


42  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

hour  and  a  quarter  without  firing  a  shot,  for  fear 
of  firing  upon  their  own  men.  Their  coolness  and 
fine  discipline  were  superb. 

''In  connection  herewith,  it  gives  me  great  pleas- 
ure to  call  attention  to  the  great  gallantry  of  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant  George  Vidmer,  Tenth  Cavalry, 
and  Privates  Burr  Neal,  W.  R.  Nelson,  Augustus 
Walby  and  A.  C.  White,  who,  under  a  heavy  fire, 
came  to  my  assistance  in  carrying  Major  Bell, 
First  Cavalry,  to  a  place  of  safety,  he  being  shot 
through  the  leg  belonv  the  knee  and  his  leg 
broken." 

The  Rough  Riders  occupied  the  left  column, 
while  the  regulars,  including  one  squadron  of  the 
Tenth  and  one  of  the  First  Cavalry,  occupied  the 
right  column;  of  the  latter  Brigadier-General  B.  M. 
Young  says  (annual  report  of  the  Major-General 
commanding,  p.  333):  ''The  fine  discipline  of 
these  particular  troops  was  almost  perfect.  The 
ammunition  expended  by  the  two  squadrons  en- 
gaged in  an  incessant  advance  for  one  hour  and 
fifteen  minutes  averaged  less  than  ten  rounds  per 
man.  The  fine  quality  of  these  troops  is  also 
shown  by  the  fact  that  there  was  not  a  single 
straggler,  and  in  not  one  instance  was  an  attempt 
made  by  any  soldier  to  fall  out  in  the  advance  to 
assist  the  wounded  or  carry  back  the  dead." 

General  Joseph  Wheeler  says  (Ibid.  163):  "I 
was  immediately  with  the  troops  of  the  First  and 
Tenth  Regular  Cavalry,  dismounted  and  personally 
noticed  their  brave  and  good  conduct,  which  will 
be  specially  mentioned  by  General  Young." 

This  Las  Guasimas  engagement  cleared  the  way 
to  Santiago,  964  American  troops  having  dislodged 


COL.  W.  A.  PLEDGER, 
Orator  and  Editor,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


43 


44  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

4,000  Spaniards,  with  the  loss  of  16  killed  and  52 
wounded. 

From  June  24  to  June  30  the  time  was  spent  in 
concentrating  the  American  troops  in  preparing 
for  the  advance  towards  Santiago,  the  objective 
point.  El  Caney  is  a  small  village  to  the  northeast 
of  Santiago,  and  three  miles  away,  on  the  same 
side,  were  the  San  Juan  Hills  and  blockhouses. 
The  approach  to  the  town  was  by  that  route. 
Lawton's,  Kent's  divisions  and  Grimes'  battery 
were  ordered  to  move  on  the  hills.  The  disposi- 
tions were  made  June  30,  and  on  the  morning  of 
July  I,  at  6  o'clock,  the  conflict  opened,  with  Law- 
ton  in  position,  Chafifee's  brigade  on  the  right, 
Ludlow's  on  the  left,  and  Miles'  in  the  center.  The 
conflict  soon  became  general.  The  naturally 
strong  position  of  the  enemy  was  made  more  so 
by  the  stone  blockhouses  and  forts.  After  two 
hours'  fighting  Bates'  brigade  was  ordered  from 
the  rear  to  Lawton's  support.  The  Spaniards 
fought  with  great  courage  and  pertinacity,  but 
were  slowly  driven  from  their  entrenchments  and 
forced  to  retire.  From  the  heights  Grimes'  bat- 
tery played  upon  the  San  Juan  blockhouses  with 
great  effect.  The  Spaniards  used  smokeless  pow- 
der, and  it  was  difficult  to  locate  them.  Wheeler's 
and  Kent's  divisions  were  now  ordered  to  deploy, 
Wheeler  to  the  right  and  Kent  to  the  left.  Gen- 
eral Shafter  tells  the  story  of  the  remainder  of  the 
fighting  as  follows: 

In  the  meantime  Kent's  division,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  regiments  of  Hawkins'  brigade, 
being  thus  uncovered,  moved  rapidly  to  the  front 
from  the  forks  previously  mentioned  in  the  road, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  45 

utilizing  both  trails,  but  more  especially  the  one 
to  the  left,  and,  crossing  the  creek,  formed  for  at- 
tack in  front  of  San  Juan  Hill.,  During  this 
formation  the  Second  Brigade  suffered  severely. 
While  personally  superintending  this  movement  its 
gallant  commander.  Colonel  Wykoif,  was  killed. 
The  command  of  the  brigade  then  devolved  upon 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Worth,  Thirteenth  Infantry, 
who  was  soon  severely  wounded,  and  next  upon 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Liscomb,  Twenty-fourth  Infan- 
try, who,  five  minutes  later,  also  fell  under  the  ter- 
rible fire  of  the  enemy,  and  the  command  of  the 
brigade  then  devolved  upon  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Ewers,  Ninth  Infantry. 

"While  the  formation  just  described  was  taking 
place.  General  Kent  took  measures  to  hurry  for- 
ward his  rear  brigade.  The  Tenth  and  Second  In- 
fantry were  ordered  to  follow  Wykoff's  brigade, 
while  the  Twenty-first  was  sent  on  the  right-hand 
road  to  support  the  First  Brigade,  under  General 
Hawkins,  who  had  crossed  the  stream  and  formed 
on  the  right  of  the  division.  The  Second  and 
Tenth  Infantry,  Colonel  E.  P.  Pearson,  command- 
ing, moved  forward  in  good  order  on  the  left  of 
the  division,  passed  over  a  green  knoll,  and  drove 
the  enemy  back  toward  his  trenches. 

After  completing  their  formation  under  a  de- 
structive fire,  and  advancing  a  short  distance,  both 
divisions  found  iv.  their  front  a  wide  bottom,  in 
which  had  been  placed  a  barbed-wire  entanglement, 
and  beyond  which  there  was  a  high  hill,  along  the 
crest  of  which  the  enemy  was  strongly  posted. 
Nothing  daunted,  these  gallant  men  pushed  on  to 
drive  the  enemy  from  his  chosen  position,  both 


46  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

divisions  losing  heavily.  In  this  assault  Colonel 
Hamilton,  Lieutenants  Smith  and  Shipp  were 
killed,  and  Colonel  Carroll,  Lieutenants  Thayer 
and  Myer,  all  in  the  cavalry,  were  wounded." 

The  day  closed  with  the  Americans  holding"  all 
they  had  gained.  The  fight  was  renetwed  on  the 
morning  of  the  2d  and  the  day  closed  with 
the  American  positions  well  advanced.  July  3,  in 
the  morning,  the  fight  was  opened  anew,  but  the 
enemy  soon  gave  way  and  the  firing  was  discon- 
tinued. At  8:30  o'clock  General  Shafter  demand- 
ed the  surrender  of  the  Spanish  army,  and  on  July 
17  this  was  done,  there  having  been  no  fighting  in 
the  interval,  pending  the  negotiations  for  the  sur- 
render. The  Spanish  troops  surrendered  number- 
ed 22,000. 

The  American  losses  in  the  three  days'  fighting 
— July  I,  2  and  3 — were  as  follows:  Twenty-two 
officers  and  208  men  killed;  81  officers  and  1,203 
men  w^ounded;  79  missing. 

Some  of  the  exploits  of  the  Afro-American 
troopers  will  be  told  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  AFRO-AMERICAN  REGULARS  IN  CUBA. 

In  all  the  fierce  fighting  of  July  i,  2  and  3,  in 
assaulting  and  carrying  by  storm  the  heights  of  El 
Caney  and  the  blockhouses  on  the  top  of  the  San 
Juan  hills  the  members  of  the  four  Afro-American 
regiments  displayed  a  courage  and  heroism  equal 
to  that  of  their  white  comrades  in  arms.  The 
writer  has  searched  in  vain  through  the  reports  of 
staff  and  line  ofBcers,  published  in  the  annual  re- 
port of  the  Major-General  commanding,  for  an  in- 
stance of  cowardice  or  infraction  of  discipline. 
They  all  uniformly  report  that  men  and  ofiicers 
alike  shared  the  hazards  and  the  glory  of  the  con- 
flict with  the  courage,  intrepidity  and  cheerfulness 
which  have  always  marked  the  regular  soldiers  of 
the  army  of  the  United  States.  In  all  the  volumi- 
nous reports  there  is  but  one  discordant  note,  and 
that  was  the  failure  of  the  Seventy-first  New  York 
Volunteers  to  move  into  action  as  ordered,  owing 
to  the  conduct  of  their  officers,  all  of  whom  have 
since  been  removed  from  their  commands.  But 
not  a  murmur  against  the  conduct  of  the  black 
regulars  is  to  be  found  in  the  reports;  on  the  con- 
trary, there  are  words  upon  w^ords  of  praise  from 
their  gallant  commanders,  all  of  them  whites,  and 
graduates  of  the  West  Point  Military  Acaderny, 
who  displayed  a  pardonable  and  praiseworthy  pride 
in  the  conduct  of  the  brave  men  in  their  commands. 
This  high  and  unimpeachable  testimony  is  a  price- 
less legacy  not  only  to  the  Afro-American  people, 

47 


48  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

who  have  so  many  prejudices  to  fight  down,  but 
to  the  white  American  people,  whose  honor  and 
glory  and  safety  and  pride  are  wrapped  up  in  the 
brave  sons  who  wear  the  uniform  of  the  Republic, 
on  land  and  sea,  who  go  forth  to  fight  the  enemy. 

Colonel  Leonard  Wood,  commanding  Second 
Brigade,  Cavalry  Division,  says  (Major-General's 
Report,  p.  343):  "In  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the 
brigade  as  a  whole,  I  can  only  say  that  it  was 
superb.  That  dismounted  cavalry  should  have  been 
able  to  charge  regular  infantry  in  strong  position, 
supported  by  artillery  and  the  general  lay  of  the 
land,  seems  almost  incredible,  yet  this  is  exactly 
what  the  Cavalry  Division  of  the  Fifth  Army  Corps 
did  in  this  fight,  passing  over  a  long  zone  of  fire 
and  charging  steep  hills,  topped  with  works  and 
blockhouses." 

Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  S.  Daggett,  Twenty-fifth 
Infantry,  commanding,  says  (Ibid,  p.  386):  ''All 
officers  and  men  behaved  gallantly."  (Ibid,  388): 
'The  Twenty-fifth  Infantry  caused  the  surrender 
of  the  stone  fort."  General  ChafTee  disputes  this 
(Ibid,  p.  388),  and  awards  the  credit  to  the  Twelfth 
Infantry.  He  says:  "The  troops  arriving  at  the 
stone  fort  (El  Caney)  were  there  in  the  following 
order:  Twelfth  Infantry,  which  took  the  place; 
the  command  of  General  Bates,  some  minutes  later; 
the  Twenty-fifth  Infantry.  A  captain  of  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Infantry  claimed  the  capture  of  the  place  from 
me  at  the  time  and  on  the  ground,  and  I  told  him 
then  that  his  proposition  was  absurd,  and  stated 
to  him  the  order  in  which  the  troops  arrived."  At 
any  rate,  the  three  commanders  must  have  reached 
the  fort  pretty  close  together. 


PAUL   LAURENCE  DUNBAR, 
The  Poet-Laureate  of  the  Negro  Race, 


50  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Captain  A.  C.  Markley,  Twenty-fourth  Infantry, 
commanding  regiment,  says  (Ibid,  434):  "On  the 
march  to  the  front  this  regiment  was  the  rear  one 
of  the  three  in  its  brigade.  After  coming  under 
fire,  it  was  ordered  to  take  a  position  on  the  left, 
and  marched  about  a  mile  by  the  flank,  under  fire, 
to  its  place;  advanced  over  the  flat  the  same  as  the 
other  regiments  assisting  in  the  capture  of  Fort 
San  Juan,  getting  on  the  top  of  the  hill  among 
the  first,  with  a  creditable  number  of  men  of  its 
small  companies,  and  in  time  to  get  men  killed 
and  to  silence  one  gun  by  volley  fire."  Captain 
Henry  Wygant,  Twenty-fourth  Infantry,  com- 
manding Second  Battalion,  says  (Ibid.,  435):  The 
gallantry  and  bearing  shown  by  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  regiment  under  this  trying  ordeal 
was  such  that  it  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of 
its  record." 

At  the  Lenox  Lyceum,  in  New  York,  October 
14,  1898,  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  (First 
United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry,  the  "Rough 
Riders"),  speaking  to  a  mass  meeting  favorable  to 
his  candidacy  for  governor  of  New  York,  said: 
"Now  a  word  as  to  the  colored  man  in  military 
life.  I'm  glad  to  see  here  one  or  two  men  in  uni- 
form. (Cheers.)  In  fact,  I  rather  think  that  however 
any  other  colored  man  may  vote,  you  won't  get 
a  trooper  of  the  Ninth  or  Tenth  Cavalry  to  vote 
against  a  Rough  Rider.  (Great  cheering.)  And 
the  feeling  is  reciprocated.  As  I  heard  one  of 
the  Rough  Riders  say  after  the  charge  at  San 
Juan:  'Well,  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  men  are  all 
right.     They  can  drink  out  of  our  canteens.' 

"That  night  my  men  had  lain  in  reserve  for  an 


^  NEW  CENTURY  5^ 

uncomfortable  hour,  got  the  order  to  go  forward, 
and  we  struck  the  Ninth  Cavalry  and  in  the  first 
charge,  on  what  we  called  Kettle  Hill,  they  and 
we  went  up  absolutely  intermingled,  so  that  no 
one  could  tell  whether  it  was  the  Rough  Riders 
or  the  men  of  the  Ninth  who  came  forward  with 
the  greater  courage  to  offer  their  lives  in  the  ser- 
vice of  their  country.  One  or  two  other  cavalry 
regiments  joined  us  on  the  hill  and  we  turned  our 
attention  to  the  San  Juan  blockhouse  and  began 
volley  firing  until  we  took  that.  Eventually  I 
found  myself  on  the  hill  nearest  the  city,  the  high- 
est officer  there,  and  in  command  of  sections  of 
a  number  of  cavalry  regiments,  including  portions 
of  the  Ninth  and  ^  Tenth.  That  night  we  took 
spades  and  worked  at  the  trenches  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  white  and  colored  men  together.  So  I 
had  opportunities  of  seeing  the  colored  troops  un- 
der all  circumstances — charging,  lying  under  fire, 
digging  in  the  trenches,  advancing  with  us." 

"Never  did  anything  but  advance  did  you?" 
shouted  a  man  in  the  rear,  and  the  query  was 
greeted  with  applause  and  laughter,  which  in- 
creased when  Colonel  Roosevelt  replied  with  a 
whimsical  expression  of  face: 

'Well,  now  that  you  remind  me  of  it,  I  don't 
thinkwedidgo  in  the  opposite  direction  very  much. 
When  you've  been  under  fire  with  a  man,"  he  con- 
tinued, ''and  fought  side  by  side  with  him,  and 
eaten  with  him  when  you  had  anything  to  eat,  and 
hungered  with  him  when  you  hadn't,  you  feel  a 
sort  of  comradeship  that  you  don't  feel  for  any 
man  that  you  have  been  associated  with  in  other 
ways,  and  I  don't  think  that  any  Rough  Rider 


52  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

will  ever  forget  the  tie  that  binds  us  to  the  Ninth 
and  Tenth  Cavalry.  (Cheers.)  As  I  say,  that  gives 
you  a  sense  of  comradeship  that  nothing  else  can 
give.  Of  course,  we  feel  that  for  all  who  fought 
with  us  there,  regular  or  volunteer,  and  the  reason 
why  we  feel  that  enthusiasm  toward  our  fellow- 
soldiers  is  one  which  should  have  equal  weight 
in  civil  life.  It  wasn't  because  the  colored  troop- 
ers were  colored  that  we  admired  them  any  more 
than  it  was  because  the  white  cavalrymen  of  the 
First,  Third  and  Sixth  were  white  that  we  admired 
them.  In  each  case  it  was  because  they  were 
brave  men,  worthy  of  respect. 

"And  nofw,  in  civil  life,  it  should  be  the  same.  I 
don't  want  to  see  any  of  our  citizens  claiming  or 
receiving  favors  because  he  is  of  a  certain  race, 
color  or  creed,  but  I  want  to  see  every  American 
citizen  treated  on  his  merits  as  a  man.  As  the  men 
of  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalry  reflected  honor 
not  only  on  the  entire  American  people,  but  espe- 
cially on  those  of  their  own  race,  so  I  hope  and 
believe  that  you  will  honor  yourselves  and  all  your 
fellow-Americans  by  fearless  and  honorable  dis- 
charge of  the  obligations  of  citizenship  in  these 
times  of  peace  and  if  you  so  do  your  duty  it  is 
your  right  that  you  should  receive  the  same  treat- 
ment in  every  respect  as  other  citizens  without 
respect  to  race  or  creed." 

In  view  of  this  pronouncement  there  was  a  very 
great  deal  of  surprise  when,  in  his  story  of  the 
Rough  Riders  (Scribner's  Magazine,  April,  1899, 
pp.  435-436),  Colonel  Roosevelt  pubHshed  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"On  the  hill-slope  immediately  around  me  I  had 


A  NEW  CENTURY  53 

a  mixed  force  composed  of  members  of  most  of 
the  cavalry  regiments,  and  a  few  infantrymen. 
There  was  about  fifty  of  my  Rough  Riders,  with 
Lieutenants  Goodrich  and  Carr.  Among  the  rest 
were  perhaps  a  score  of  colored  infantrymen,  but, 
as  it  happened,  at  this  particular  point,  without 
any  of  their  ofificers.  No  troops  could  have  be- 
haved better  than  the  colored  soldiers  had  behaved 
so  far;  but  they  are,  of  course,  peculiarly  dependent 
upon  their  white  officers.  Occasionally  they  pro- 
duce non-commissioned  officers  who  can  take  the 
initiative  and  accept  responsibility  precisely  like 
the  best  class  of  whites;  but  this  cannot  be  expected 
normally,  nor  is  it  fair  to  expect  it.  With  the  col- 
ored troops  there  should  always  be  some  of  their 
own  officers;  whereas,  with  the  white  regulars,  as 
with  my  own  Rough  Riders,  experience  showed 
that  the  non-commissioned  officers  could  usually 
carry  on  the  fight  by  themselves  if  they  were  once 
started,  no  matter  whether  their  officers  were  killed 
or  not. 

H(  ^  :{:  :|e 

''None  of  the  white  regulars  or  Rough  Riders 
showed  the  slightest  sign  of  weakening;  but  under 
the  strain  the  colored  infantrymen  (who  had  none 
of  their  officers)  began  to  get  a  little  uneasy  and 
to  drift  to  the  rear,  either  helping  wounded  men, 
or  saying  that  they  wished  to  find  their  own  regi- 
ments. This  I  could  not  allow,  as  it  was  depleting 
my  line,  so  I  jumped  up,  and,  walking  a  few  yards 
to  the  rear,  drew  my  revolver,  halted  the  retreating 
soldiers,  and  called  out  to  them  that  I  appreciated 
the  gallantry  with  which  they  had  fought  and 
would  be  sorry  to  hurt  them,  but  that  I  should 


54  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

shoot  the  first  man  who,  on  any  pretense  what- 
ever, went  to  the  rear.  My  own  men  had  all  sat 
up  and  were  watching  my  movements  with  the 
utmost  interest;  so  was  Captain  Howze.  I  ended 
my  statement  to  the  colored  soldiers  by  saying: 
'Now,  I  shall  be  very  sorry  to  hurt  you,  and  you 
don't  know  whether  or  not  I  will  keep  my  word, 
but  my  men  can  tell  you  that  I  always  do;'  where- 
upon my  cow-punchers,  hunters,  and  miners  sol- 
emnly nodded  their  heads  and  commented  in 
chorus,  exactly  as  if  in  a  comic  opera,  'He  always 
does;   he  ahvays  does.'     This  ended  the  trouble." 

This  makes  very  nice  reading,  but  it  is  not  his- 
tory, in  which  it  is  always  hazardous  to  sacrifice 
truth  "to  make  a  period  round."  It  is  therefore 
fortunate  that  one  of  the  Afro-Americans  who 
was  with  Colonel  Roosevelt  at  the  time  and  knows 
all  about  the  scandalous  incident  he  relates  should 
write  a  correction  of  the  Rough  Rider's  statements. 
Sergeant  Presley  Holliday,  Troop  B,  Tenth  Cav- 
alry, says  (New  York  Age,  May  ii,  1899): 

'Tn  the  beginning  I  wish  to  say  that  from  what 
I  saw  of  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  Cuba  and  the  im- 
pression his  frank  countenance  made  on  me,  I 
cannot  believe  that  he  made  the  statement  ma- 
liciously. I  believe  the  Colonel  thought  he  spoke 
the  exact  truth.  But  did  he  know  that  of  the  four 
officers  connected  with  two  certain  troops  of  the 
Tenth  Cavalry  one  was  killed  and  three  were  so 
seriously  wounded  as  to  cause  them  to  be  carried 
from  the  field  and  the  command  of  these  tw^o  troops 
fell  to  their  first  sergeants,  who  led  them  triumph- 
antly to  the  front?  Does  he  know  that  both  at  La 
Guasimas  and  at  San  Juan  Hill,  the  greater  part  of 


ALEXANDER   MILES, 

One  of  the  Founders  of  the  City  of  Duluth.  Minnesota;   Suc- 
cessful Business  Man;    Head  of  The  United  Broth- 
erhood, the  First  Fraternal  Insurance  ComDanv 
to  Be  Organized  Among  Colored  People. 


55 


56  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Troop  B  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry  was  separated  from 
its  commanding  officer  by  the  accidents  of  battle 
and  was  led  to  the  front  by  its  first  sergeant? 

''When  we  reached  the  enemy's  works  on  San 
Juan  Hill  our  organizations  were  very  badly  mixed, 
few  company  commanders  having  their  whole  com- 
panies or  none  of  somebody  else's  company.  As 
it  was,  Captain  Watson,  my  troop  commander, 
reached  the  crest  of  the  hill  with  about  eight  or  ten 
men  of  his  troop,  all  the  rest  having  been  acci- 
dentally separated  from  him  by  the  thick  under- 
brush during  the  advance,  and  being  at  that  time, 
as  was  subsequently  shown,  on  the  firing  line  un- 
der some  one  else,  pushing  to  the  front.  We  kept 
up  the  forward  movement  and  finally  halted  on 
the  heights  overlooking  Santiago,  where  Colonel 
Roosevelt,  with  a  very  thin  line,  had  preceded  us, 
and  was  holding  the  hill.  Here  Captain  Watson 
told  us  to  remain  while  he  went  to  another  part  of 
the  line  to  look  for  the  rest  of  his  troop.  He  did 
not  come  to  that  part  of  the  field  again. 

'The  Colonel  made  a  slight  error  when  he  said 
his  mixed  comm.and  contained  some  colored  in- 
fantry. All  the  colored  troops  in  that  command 
were  cavalrymen.  His  command  consisted  mostly 
of  Rough  Riders,  with  an  aggregate  of  about  one 
troop  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry,  a  few  of  the  Ninth 
and  a  few  of  the  First  Regular  Cavalry,  with  a  half- 
dozen  officers.  Every  few  minutes  brought  men 
from  the  rear,  everybody  seeming  to  be  anxious  to 
get  to  the  firing  line.  For  a  while  we  kept  up  a 
desultory  fire,  but  as  we  could  not  locate  the  enemy 
(which  all  the  time  kept  up  a  hot  fire  on  our  posi- 
tion), we  became  disgusted  and  lay  down  and  kept 


A  NEW  CENTURY  57 

silent.  Private  Marshall  was  here  seriously 
wounded  while  standing  in  plain  view  of  the  en- 
emy trying  to  point  them  out  to  his  comrades. 

'There  were  frequent  calls  for  men  to  carry  the 
wounded  to  the  rear,  to  go  for  ammunition,  and 
as  night  came  on,  to  go  for  rations  and  entrench- 
ing tools.  A  few  colored  soldiers  volunteered,  as 
did  some  from  the  Rough  Riders.  It  then  hap- 
pened that  two  men  of  the  Tenth  were  ordered  to 
the  rear  by  Lieutenant  Fleming,  Tenth  Cavalry, 
who  was  then  present  with  part  of  his  troop,  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  either  rations  or  entrench- 
ing tools,  and  Colonel  Roosevelt,  seeing  so  many 
men  going  to  the  rear,  shouted  to  them  to  come 
back,  jumped  up  and  drew  his  revolver,  and  told 
the  men  of  the  Tenth  that  he  would  shoot  the  first 
man  who  attempted  to  shirk  duty  by  going  to  the 
rear,  that  he  had  orders  to  hold  that  Hne  and 
he  would  do  so  if  he  had  to  shoot  every  man 
there  to  do  it.  His  own  men  immediately 
informed  him  that  'you  w^on't  have  to  shoot 
those  men,  Colonel.  We  know  those  boys.' 
He  was  also  assured  by  Lieutenant  Flemming 
of  the  Tenth  that  he  would  have  no  trouble 
keeping  them  there,  and  some  of  our  men  shouted, 
in  which  I  joined,  that  'we  will  stay  with  you. 
Colonel.'  Everyone  who  saw  the  incident  knew 
the  Colonel  was  mistaken  about  our  men  trying 
to  shirk  duty,  but  well  knew  that  he  could  not  ad- 
mit of  any  heavy  detail  from  his  command,  so  no 
one  thought  ill  of  the  matter.  Inasmuch  as  the 
Colonel  came  to  the  line  of  the  Tenth  the  next  day 
and  told  the  men  of  his  threat  to  shoot  some  of 
their  members  and,  as  he  expressed  it,  he  had  seen 


58  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

his  mistake  and  found  them  to  be  far  different  men 
from  what  he  supposed,  I  thought  he  was  suffi- 
ciently conscious  of  his  error  not  to  make  so  un- 
grateful a  statement  about  us  at  a  time  when  the 
nation  is  about  to  recognize  our  past  service. 

''Had  the  Colonel  desired  to  note  the  fact  he 
would  have  seen  that  when  orders  came  the  next 
day  to  relieve  the  detachment  of  the  Tenth  from 
that  part  of  the  field,  he  commanded  just  as  many 
colored  men  at  that  time  as  he  commanded  at  any 
other  time  during  the  twenty-four  hours  we  were 
under  his  command,  although  colored  as  well  as 
white  soldiers  were  going  and  coming  all  day,  and 
they  knew  perfectly  well  where  the  Tenth  Cavalry 
was  posted,  and  that  it  was  on  a  line  about  four 
hundred  yards  further  from  the  enemy  than  Col- 
onel Roosevelt's  line.  Still  when  they  obtained 
permission  to  go  to  the  rear  they  almost  invariably 
came  back  to  the  same  position.  Two  men  of  my 
troop  were  wounded  while  at  the  rear  for  water  and 
taken  to  the  hospital  and,  of  course,  could  not  come 
back. 

"Our  men  always  made  it  a  rule  to  join  the  near- 
est command  when  separated  from  our  own,  and 
those  who  had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  their 
way  altogether  were,  both  colored  and  white,  strag- 
gling up  from  the  time  the  line  was  established  until 
far  into  the  night,  showing  their  determination  to 
reach  the  front. 

'Tn  explaining  the  desire  of  our  men  to  go  back 
to  look  for  their  comrades  it  should  be  stated 
that  from  the  contour  of  the  ground  the  Rough 
Riders  were  so  much  in  advance  of  the  Tenth  Cav- 
alry that  to  reach  the  latter  regiment  from  the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  59 

former  one  had  really  to  go  straight  to  the  rear  and 
then  turn  sharply  to  the  right;  and  further,  it  is  a 
well-known  fact  in  this  country  most  persons  of 
color  feel  out  of  place  when  they  are  by  force  com- 
pelled to  mingle  with  white  persons,  especially 
strangers,  and  although  we  knew  we  were  doing 
our  duty  and  would  be  treated  well  as  long  as  we 
stood  to  the  front  and  fought,  unfortunately  some 
of  our  men  (and  these  w^ere  all  recruits  with  less 
than  six  months'  service)  felt  so  much  out  of  place 
that  when  the  firing  lulled  often  showed  their  de- 
sire to  be  with  their  commands.  None  of  our 
older  men  did  this.  We  knew  perfectly  well  that 
we  could  give  as  much  assistance  there  as  any- 
where else  and  that  it  was  our  duty  to  remain  until 
relieved.  And  we  did.  White  soldiers  do  not,  as 
a  rule,  share  this  feeling  with  colored  soldiers.  The 
fact  that  a  white  man  knows  how  well  he  can  make 
a  place  for  himself  among  colored  people  need  not 
be  discussed  here. 

^'1  remember  an  incident  of  a  recruit  of  my  troop 
with  less  than  two  months'  service  who  had  come 
up  to  our  position  during  the  evening  of  the  ist, 
having  been  separated  from  the  troop  during  the 
attack  on  San  Juan  Hill.  The  next  morning  before 
the  firing  began,  having  seen  an  ofHcer  of  the  Tenth 
who  had  been  sent  to  Colonel  Roosevelt  with  a 
message,  returning  to  the  regiment,  he  signified 
his  intention  of  going  back  with  him,  saying  he 
could  thus  find  the  regiment.  I  remonstrated  wdth 
him  without  avail  and  was  only  able  to  keep  him 
from  going  by  informing  him  of  the  Colonel's 
threat  of  the  day  before.  There  was  no  desire  on 
the  part  of  this  soldier  to  shirk  duty.     He  simply 


6o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

didn't  know  that  he  should  not  leave  any  part  of 
the  firing  Hne  without  orders.  Later,  while  lying 
in  reserve  behind  the  firing  Hne,  I  had  to  use  as 
much  persuasion  to  keep  him  from  firing  over  the 
heads  of  his  enemies  as  I  had  to  keep  him  with  us. 
He  remained  with  us  until  he  was  shot  in  the 
shoulder  and  had  to  be  sent  to  the  rear. 

''I  could  give  many  other  incidents  of  our  men'q 
devotion  to  duty,  of  their  determination  to  stay 
until  the  death,  but  what's  the  use?  Colonel  Roose- 
velt has  said  they  shirked,  and  the  reading  public 
will  take  the  Colonel  at  his  word  and  go  on  think- 
ing they  shirked.  His  statement  was  uncalled  for 
and  uncharitable,  and  considering  the  moral  and 
physical  effect  the  advance  of  the  Tenth  Cavalry 
had  in  weakening  the  forces  opposed  to  the  Col- 
onel's regiment  both  at  Las  Guasimas  and  San 
Juan  Hill,  altogether  ungrateful,  and  has  done  us 
an  immeasurable  lot  of  harm. 

"And,  further,  as  to  our  lack  of  qualifications  for 
command,  I  will  say  that  when  our  soldiers  who 
can  and  will  write  history  sever  their  connections 
with  the  regular  army  and  thus  release  themselves 
from  their  voluntary  status  of  military  lockjaw  and 
tell  what  they  saw,  those  who  now  preach  that  the 
negro  is  not  fit  to  exercise  command  over  troops 
and  will  go  no  further  than  he  is  led  by  white 
officers,  will  see  in  print  held  up  for  public  gaze, 
much  to  their  chargin,  tales  of  those  Cuban  bat- 
tles that  have  never  been  told  outside  the  tent  and 
the  barrack  room,  tales  that  it  will  not  be  agree- 
able for  some  of  them  to  hear.  The  public  will  then 
learn  that  not  every  troop  or  company  of  colored 
soldiers  who  took  part  in  the  assaults  on  San  Juan 


HON.   J.   FRANK  WHEATON, 

Lawyer  and  First  Colored  Man  to  Be  Honored  by  Election 

to  the  State  Legislature  of  Minnesota. 


62  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Hill  or  El  Caney  was  led  or  urgtd  forward  by  its 
white  officer. 

**It  is  unfortunate  that  we  had  no  colored  officers 
in  that  campaign,  and  this  thing  of  white  officers 
for  colored  troops  is  exasperating,  and  I  join  with 
The  Age  in  saying  our  motto  for  the  future  must 
be:   'Colored  officers  or  no  colored  soldiers/  " 

So  much  for  Colonel  Roosevelt's  statements. 

First  Sergeant  M.  W.  Sadler,  Company  D, 
Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  furnished  the  following 
graphic  account  to  the  New  York  Age  of  the  part 
his  regiment  had  in  the  capture  of  El  Caney: 

"Santiago  de  Cuba,  July  30. — I  wish  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  heroic  part  the  Twenty-fifth  United 
State  Infantry  played  in  compelling  the  surrender 
of  Santiago.  We  have  no  reporter  in  our  division 
and  it  appears  that  <we  are  coming  up  unrepre- 
sented. 

"On  the  morning  of  July  i  our  regiment,  after 
having  slept  a  part  of  the  night  with  stones  for 
pillows  and  heads  resting  on  hands,  arose  at  the 
dawn  of  .day,  without  a  morsel  to  eat,  formed  line, 
and  after  a  half-day  of  hard  marching  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  bloody  battleground  of  El  Caney. 
We  were  in  the  last  brigade  of  our  division.  As 
we  were  marching  up  we  met  regiments  of  our 
comrades  in  white  retreating  from  the  Spanish 
stronghold.  As  we  pressed  forward  all  the  reply 
that  came  from  the  retiring  soldiers  was:  There 
is  no  use  to  advance  further!  The  Spaniards  are 
intrenched  and  in  blockhouses.  You  are  running 
to  sudden  death.'  But  without  a  falter  did  our 
brave  men  continue  to  press  to  the  front. 

"In    a  few  moments  the  desired    position  was 


A  NEW  CENTURY  63 

reached.  The  first- battahon  of  the  Twenty-fifth 
Infantry,  composed  of  Companies  C,  D,  G  and  H, 
were  ordered  to  form  the  firing  fine,  in  preference 
to  other  regiments,  though  their  commanders  were 
senior  to  ours.  But  no  sooner  w^as  the  command 
given  than  the  execution  began.  A  thousand  yards 
distant  to  the  north  lay  the  enemy,  2,000  strong, 
in  intrenchments  hewn  out  of  soUd  stone.  On  each 
end  of  the  breastwork  were  stone  blockhouses. 
Our  regiment  numbered  507  men  all  told.  We 
advanced  about  200  yards,  under  cover  of  jungles 
and  ravines.  Then  came  the  trying  moments.  The 
clear  battlefield  was  reached.  The  enemy  began 
showering  down  on  us  volleys  from  their  strong 
fortifications  and  numberless  sharpshooters  hid 
away  in  palm  trees  and  other  places  of  conceal- 
ment. Our  men  began  to  fall,  many  of  them  never 
to  rise  again,  but  so  steady  was  the  advance  and 
so  effective  was  our  fire  that  the  Spaniards  became 
unnerved  and  began  over-shooting  us.  When  they 
saw  we  were  'colored  soldiers'  they  kne\v  their 
doom  was  sealed.  They  were  afraid  to  put  their 
heads  above  the  brink  of  the  intrenchments,  for 
every  time  a  head  was  raised  there  was  one  Span- 
iard  less. 

"The  advance  was  continued  until  we  were  with- 
in about  150  yards  of  the  intrenchments;  then  came 
the  solemn  command,  'Charge.'  Every  man  was 
up  and  rushing  forward  at  headlong  speed  over  the 
barbed  wire  and  into  the  intrenchments,  and  the 
Twenty-fifth  carried  the  much-coveted  position. 

"Our  losses  were  as  follows:  Company  A — 
Wounded,  Sergeant  Stephen  H.  Brown,  Private 
W^illiam    Clark.       Company    B — Killed,    Private 


64  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

French  Payne;  wounded,  Private  Thomas  Browtl. 
Company  C — Wounded,  Privates  Joseph  L.  John- 
son, Samuel  W.  Holley,  John  H.  Boyd.  Company 
I>— Killed,  Privates  Tom  Howe,  John  B.  Phelps> 
John  W.  Steele;  wounded,  Sergeant  Hayden  Rich- 
ards, Privates  Robert  Goodwin,  Andrew  Smith. 
Company  E — »Wounded,  Privates  Hugh  Swann, 
David  Gilligin,  John  Sadler  and  James  Howard. 
Company  F — Wounded,  First  Sergeant  Frank 
Coleman,  Private  William  Lafayette.  Company  G 
— Killed,  Private  Aaron  Leftwich;  wounded.  Pri- 
vates Alvin  Daniels,  Benjamin  Douglass,  George  P. 
Cooper  and  John  Thomas.  Company  H — ^Killed, 
Corporal  Benjamin  Cousins,  Private  Albert 
Strothers;  wounded,  Henry  Gilbert,  William  Bevels 
and  Edward  Foreman.  Officers — Killed,  Second 
Lieutenant  H.  L.  McCorkle;  wounded.  Captain 
Eaton  A.  Edwards,  Lieutenants  Kennison  and 
Murdock. 

"So  great  was  the  loss  of  officers  that  Company 
C  had  to  be  commanded  by  its  first  sergeant,  S. 
W.  Taliaferro,  the  gallant  aspirant  for  a  commis- 
sion from  the  ranks,  the  facts  of  which  are  yet 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  reading  Afro-Americans.  The 
company's  commander  was  wounded  early  in  the 
action  by  the  explosion  of  a  bombshell. 

'Thus  our  people  can  now  see  that  the  coolness 
and  bravery  that  characterized  our  fathers  in  the 
6o's  have  been  handed  down  to  their  sons  in  the 
90's.  If  any  one  doubts  the  fitness  of  a  colored  sol- 
dier for  active  field  service,  when  the  cry  of  mus- 
ketry, thebooming  of  cannons  and  bursting  of  shells 
seem  to  make  the  earth  tremble,  ask  the  regimental 
commande*-s  of  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty- 


H.  T.  KEALING,  A.  M., 
Edncator   and   Editor  of  the   A.   M.    E.    Review,   Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 


66  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

fifth  Infantries,  and  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Cavalries; 
ask  Generals  Kent  and  Wheeler,  of  whose  divisions 
these  regiments  formed  a  part. 

'The  Spaniards  call  ns  'Xegeretter  Soldados/ 
and  say  there  is  no  use  shooting  at  us,  for  steel 
and  powder  will  not  stop  us.  Wt  only  hope  that 
our  brethren  will  come  over  and  help  us  to  show 
to  the  world  that  trtie  patriotism  is  in  the  minds  of 
the  sons  of  Ham.  All  we  need  is  leaders  of  our 
own  race  to  make  war  records,  so  that  their  names 
may  go  down  in  history  as  a  reward  for  the  price 
of  our  precious  blood." 

Sergeant-Major  Benjamin  F.  Sayre,  Company 
C,  Twenty-fourth  Infantry,  furnished  in  a  letter  to 
a  friend  the  following  pen  picture  of  the  part  his 
regiment  took  in  capturing  the  San  Juan  Heights: 

"Siboney,  Cuba,  July  19,  1898. — The  war  is 
ended,  at  least  in  these  parts;  we  possess  the 
ancient  and  beautiful  city  of  Santiago.  Our  flag 
was  raised  with  impressive  ceremonies,  bands  play- 
ing and  cannons  booming  on  the  plaza  of  the  city 
yesterday.  The  Spanish  soldiery  are  bivouacked 
under  guard  behind  the  intrenchments,  Avhere  a 
few  days  ago  we  were  crouching,  engaged  in  a 
stubborn  and  sanguinary  struggle  with  them.  The 
Cubans  are  pouring  in  from  their  retreats  and  shel- 
ters in  the  mountains  by  thousands,  whole  families 
whose  only  subsistence  for  months  has  been  man- 
groves, roots,  land  crabs,  etc.,  emaciated,  pale  and 
wan,  but  with  their  eyes  glowing  with  a  new  light 
of  hope,  their  faces  illumined  with  hope  and  thanks- 
giving for  the  new  era  of  life,  freedom  and  prosper- 
ity for  their  beloved  isle. 

'The  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  has  made  a  rec- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  67 

ord  for  itself  that  will  live  as  long  as  the  world  lasts. 
It  was  our  regiment  that  took  the  fortified  ridge 
of  San  Juan,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  enemy, 
before  Santiago,  after  the  Ninth  and  Thirteenth 
had  been  repulsed  and  were  retreating.  Seven  of 
our  officers  were  laid  low  and  thirteen  of  our  non- 
commissioned officers  before  we  had  gone  one 
hundred  yards  after  fording  the  river;  but  we  went 
right  at  them  with  a  yell,  every  man  shooting 
straight  to  kill.  The  steady  advance  of  the  black 
troops  under  their  withering  fire  nonplussed  the 
enemy;  they  became  panic-stricken  and  leaping 
out  of  their  entrenchments  fied  shamefully.  In  a 
few  minutes  we  were  on  the  heights  firing  down 
on  them  as  they  ran  and  dodged  about  among  the 
trees  and  high  grass.  The  hill-top,  blockhouse  and 
trenches  were  literally  filled  wuth  their  dead  and 
wounded,  some  of  them  shot  to  pieces.  Every- 
wdiere  the  name  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  is 
en  everyone's  lips.  Soldiers  and  Cubans  alike  vie 
with  each  other  in  doing  honor  to  any  Twenty- 
fourth  man  whenever  they  meet  one. 

"The  men  were  relieved  two  days  ago  and 
marched  to  the  little  seaside  village  of  Siboney, 
where  the  hospitals  are,  and  here  we  witnessed  all 
the  pathetic  aftermath  that  is  the  sequel  of  every 
battle  and  the  poor  unfortunate  victims  of  man's 
inhumanity  to  man.  The  first  report  was  200  killed 
on  our  side  and  1,300  wounded  and  missing.  ^  The 
death-rate  has  increased  by  an  averaee  of  six  or 
eight  every  day  since.  Men  are  dying  off  like 
sheep,  for  the  fever  has  broken  out  among  them, 
and  if  they  do  not  get  our  troops  a^way  pretty 
quick  hundreds  will  die.     No  one  knows  who  will 


68  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

be  next  to  go.  Every  precaution  has  been  taken; 
every  old  building  has  been  burned  to  the  ground, 
our  drinking  water  is  boiled,  and  every  article  of 
bedding  and  wearing  apparel  thoroughly  aired  and 
sunned  all  day  when  the  skies  are  not  pouring 
down  floods  of  water.  Notwithstanding,  men  are 
falling  down  as  if  struck  on  the  head  with  a  sledge 
hammer,  who  a  few  minutes  before  were  apparently 
in  the  best  of  health,  and  every  morning  a  silent 
squad  of  men  go  out  to  dig  three  or  four  graves. 
The  spread  of  canvas  for  our  hospitals  alone  covers 
the  area  of  a  small  city,  and,  besides  this  place, 
there  is  another  five  miles  down  the  coast  and  a 
steamship  moored  out  in  the  sea,  while  hundreds 
of  wounded  men  have  been  shipped  to  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  and  New  York  City.  War  is  a  terrible  expedi- 
ent, and  it  is  only  those  who  have  not  experienced 
it  who  would  urge  it  on  two  nations,  unless  every 
other  possible  method  of  adjustment  had  been 
resorted  to  without  avail. 

''After  all,  I  am  glad  I  had  a  hand  in  it;  that 
charge  was  magnificent  and  I  would  not  exchange 
that  thrill  of  exultation  which  I  felt  when  I  reached 
the  crust  of  that  volcano  of  rifle  pits  among  the  first 
of  my  comrades  and  raised  a  shout  at  the  fleeing 
Spaniards  for  any  consideration.  I  was  detailed 
to  go  in  search  of  the  colors,  which  I  succeeded 
in  recovering,  although,  at  times,  I  found  myself 
in  unpleasant  proximity  to  the  whistling  of  Mauser 
bullets.  It  was  a  dangerous  tour  along  the  fighting 
line,  for  which  service  I  was  highly  complimented 
and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  sergeant-major." 

After  remaining  forty  days  in  the  trenches  and 
in  the  field,  the  Twenty-fourth  Infantry  was  or- 


S.  LAING  WILLIAMS,  A.  B.  AND  M.  L., 

Is  an  Alumnus  of  the  University  of  Alichigan  and  Columbian 
Law  School,  and  Member  of  the  Chicago  Bar. 


69 


70  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

dcred  to  Siboney,  where  the  yellow  fever  had 
broken  out  among  the  volunteer  troops,  July  15, 
for  hospital  service.  On  reaching  Siboney,  the 
following  day,  the  regiment  (numbering  15  officers 
and  456  men)  was  requested  to  furnish  65  men  to 
do  service  at  the  pest  camp.  Volunteers  were  called 
for.  "This  was  the  crucial  test,"  says  Major  A.  C. 
Markley,  Twenty-fourth  Infantry,  commanding, 
(Major-General's  Report,  pp.  450,  451,  452,  453) 
"of  the  mettle  of  the  men  and  an  anxious  moment, 
indeed.  In  preparation  for  it  an  interview  had  been 
had  with  Captain  A.  A.  Augur,  commanding  Com- 
pany H,  a  man  of  high  and  strong  character,  and 
a  course  of  action  decided  on.  Captain  Augur  then 
explained  matters  to  his  men  and  called  for  volun- 
teers for  the  pest  camp.  Fifteen  gallant  felloiws 
responded  from  his  company,  and  this  fine  example 
soon  produced  more  than  were  needed  for  all  pur- 
poses." 

Thus,  in  the  field,  in  the  camp,  and  in  the  hos- 
pital, facing  Mauser  bullets,  or  what  not,  and  Yel- 
low Jack,  the  deadliest  of  foes,  these  black  troopers, 
Americans  all  and  true,  without  the  incentive  of 
ever  being  promoted  beyond  a  non-commissioned 
officers  rank,  acquitted  themselves  as  heroes,  as 
all  men  should  who  are  citizens  of  our  grand  but  not 
always  just  Republic.  A  few  of  these  brave  men 
were  promoted  to  be  second  lieutenants*  and  as- 

*  Six  colored  non-commissioned  officers  who  rendered 
particularly  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy  in  the  actions  around  Santiago  on  the  ist  and  2d 
inst.  were  appointed  second  lieutenants  in  the  tvvo  colored 
immune  regiments  organized  under  special  act  of  Congress. 
These  men  are  Sergeants  William  Washington,  Troop  F, 
and  John   C.   Proctor,  Troop   I,  of  the   Ninlli   Cavalry,  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY      •  71 

signed  to  immune  regiments,  but  all  of  them  have 
now  been  mustered  out  of  the  service — turned  out 
on  the  cold  world  in  their  old  age  and  with  their 
honors  full  upon  them,  as  not  good  enough  to  be 
officers  in  the  regular  army  of  the  Republic! 

All  honor  to  the  heroic  brave  who  fought  and 
still  live!  And  to  the  heroic  dead,  ''they  are  resting 
well,"  may  they  have  not  died  in  vain. 


Sergeants  William  McBryar,  Company  H;  Wyatt  Hoffman, 
Company  G;  Macon  Russell,  Company  H,  and  Andrew 
J.  Smith.  Company  B,  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Daggett.  These  two  regiments  were 
in  the  thick  of  the  fiercest  fighting  at  El  Caney  and  San 
Juan  and  won  high  praise  for  their  courage  and  ef^ciency. 
The  Ninth  Cavalry  was  also  with  the  Rough  Riders  at  Las 
Guasimas. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  PEACE  TREATY. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  the  American  people 
could  bring  themselves  to  the  point  of  interfering 
in  the  domestic  afTairs  of  a  friendly  power,  a  step  at 
which  all  nations,  for  obvious  reasons,  hesitate. 
The  long-continued  abuse  of  Spanish  rule  in  Cuba, 
which  had  become  a  scandal  to  Christendom,  how- 
ever, at  last  became  so  intolerable  that  they  could 
no  longer  be  excused  and  endured  without  a  stig- 
ma attaching  to  the  honor  and  humanity  of  the 
American  Republic.  When  the  national  conscience 
had  reached  this  conclusion,  in  February,-  1896, 
Congress  passed  a  resolution  recognizing  a  con- 
dition of  war  between  Spain  and  Cuba,  and  the 
friendly  offices  of  the  United  States  were  offered 
to  Spain  for  the  recognition  of  Cuban  indepen- 
dence. But  nothing  in  the  interest  of  peace  had 
been  accomplished,  the  public  mind  of  both  nations 
had  been  further  exasperated,  up  to  February  15, 
1898,  when  the  warship  Maine,  on  a  friendly  visit, 
was  destroyed  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  whether 
by  accident  or  connivance  of  the  Spanish  authori- 
ties has  never  been  determined.  In  the  explosion 
266  of  the  crew  of  the  Maine  lost  their  lives.  This 
catastrophe  was  so  appalling  as  to  make  war  inevit- 
able. The  joint  resolution  declaring  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Spain  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress April  13  and  was  signed  by  President  Mc- 

72 


T.  THOMAS   FORTUNE, 

Editor    of    the    New    York    Age,    and    Brilliant    Politiciai? 

Author  and  Speaker. 


n 


74  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Kinley  April  20,  1898,  at  11:24  o'clock  A.  M., 
and  Spain  followed  suit  April  24.  May  i  Admiral 
Dewey  destroyed  the  Spanish  Asiatic  fleet  in  the 
harbor  of  Manila.  The  American  army  of  invasion, 
16,000  strong,  under  Major-General  W.  R.  Shafter, 
landed  at  Baiquira  June  20-22,  and  began  to  move 
at  once  on  Santiago,  where  the  enemy  was  in- 
trenched in  force.  Admiral  Cervera's  fleet,  in 
attempting  to  escape  from  the  harbor  of  Santiago, 
was  destroyed,  July  3,  by  the  American  fleet.  On 
the  same  day  General  Shafter,  having  fought  his 
way,  without  one  repulse,  to  the  gates  of  Santiago, 
demanded  the  surrender  of  that  stronghold.  July 
28,  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  heading  the  American 
army  of  invasion,  landed  at  Guanica,  Porto  Rico. 

The  Spanish  Government,  through  the  French 
Ambassador,  M.  Cambon,  asked  for  terms  of  peace, 
which  were  submitted  by  the  President,  July  30, 
and  were  formally  accepted  by  Spain  August  9,  the 
peace  protocol  being  signed,  armistice  proclaimed 
and  the  blockade  of  Cuba  raised  August  12. 
August  13  Manila  surrendered  to  the  Americans. 

SeptemlDer  9  the  following  Peace  Commission  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  was  announced: 
William  R.  Day,  of  Ohio,  ex-Secretary  of  State; 
Cushman  K.  Davis,  of  Minnesota,  United  States 
Senator;  George  Gray,  of  Delaware,  United  States 
Senator;  Whitelaw  Reid,  of  New  York.  On  the 
part  of  Spain:  Eugene  Montero  Rios,  President 
of  the  Senate;  Beunaventura  Abarzuza;  M.  W.  Z. 
de  Villaurrutia;  General  R.  Cerero;  M.  J.  de  Gar- 
cia. The  American  commission  sailed  for  France 
September  17,  and  the  conferences  of  the  Joint 
Commission  began  in  Paris,  October  i.  The  treaty. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  75 

of  peace  was  signed  at  Paris,  December  lo,  at  8:45 
o'clock  P.  M. 

The  following  is  a  synopsis  of  the  Treaty  of 
Paris: 

Article  i  provides  for  the  relinquishment  of 
Cuba. 

Article  2  provides  for  the  cession  of  Porto  Rico. 

Article  3  provides  for  the  cession  of  the  Philip- 
pines for  $20,000,000  as  compensation. 

Article  4  embraces  the  plans  for  the  cessicn  cf 
the  Philippines,  including  the  return  of  Spanish 
prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the  Tagalos. 

Article  5  deals  with  the  cession  of  barracks,  w-ar 
materials,  arms,  stores,  buildings,  and  all  property 
appertaining  to  the  Spanish  administration  in  the 
Philippines. 

Article  6  is  a  renunciation  by  both  nations  of 
their  respective  claims  against  each  other  and  the 
citizens  of  each  other. 

Article  7  grants  to  Spanish  trade  and  shipping  in 
the  Philippines  the  same  treatment  as  American 
trade  and  shipping  for  a  period  of  ten  years. 

Article  8  provides  for  the  release  of  all  prisoners 
of  war  held  by  Spain  and  of  all  prisoners  held  by  her 
for  political  offences  committed  in  the  colonies 
acquired  by  the  United  States. 

Article  9  guarantees  the  legal  rights  of  Spaniards 
remaining  in  Cuba. 

Article  10  establishes  religious  freedom  in  the 
Philippines  and  guarantees  to  all  churches  equal 
rights.. 

Article  11  provides  for  the  compensation  of 
courts  and  other  tribunals  in  Porto  Rico  and 
Cuba. 


^(>  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Article  12  provides  for  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice in  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba. 

Article  13  provides  for  the  continuance  for  five 
years  of  Spanish  copyrights  in  the  ceded  territories, 
giving  Spanish  books  admittance  free  of  duty. 

Article  14  provides  for  the  establishment  oi  con- 
sulates by  Spain  in  the  ceded  territories. 

Article  15  grants  to  Spanish  commerce  in  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  the  same  treatment 
as  to  American  for  ten  years,  Spanish  shipping  to 
be  treated  as  coasting  vessels. 

Article  16  stipulates  that  the  obligations  of  the 
United  States  to  Spanish  citizens  and  property  in 
Cuba  shall  terminate  with  the  withdrawal  of  the 
United  States  authorities  from  the  island. 

Article  17  provides  that  the  treaty  must  be  rati- 
fied within  six  months  from  the  date  of  signing 
by  the  respective  Governments  in  order  to  be  bind- 
ing. 

Under  the  supervision  of  the  Evacuation  Com- 
missioners, the  removal  of  the  Spanish  troops  from 
Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  began  immediately  after  the 
arrival  of  the  American  commissioners  in  those  isl- 
ands. The  complete  evacution  of  Porto  Rico  was 
accomplished  by  October  17,  and  on  October  18 
the  United  States  flag  was  hoisted  at  San  Juan  and 
the  United  States  came  into  formal  possession  of 
the  island. 

The  evacuation  of  Cuba  by  the  Spaniards  was 
begun  in  December,  1898. 

President  McKinley  issued  a  proclamation  April 
II,  1899,  ratifying  the  work  of  the  commission. 
And  thus  ended  the  rule  of  Spain  in  North  Amer- 
ica, which  her  sailors  had  discovered  and  which 


EDWARD    WILSON, 

Graduate  of  Williams  College,  and  Successful  Member  of  the 

Chicago  Bar. 


77 


s  > 


78  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

her  chivalric  and  adventurous  soldiers  did  so  much 
to  conquer.  She  went  into  the  war  with  great 
pride  and  confidence;  she  emerged  from  it  with 
her  navy  destroyed;  her  army  discredited  and  her 
West  Indian  and  Asiatic  colonies  forever  lost  to 
her!     "O  what  a  fall  was  there!" 


CHAPTER  VI. 
AFRO-AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

That  the  age  of  prophecy,  like  that  of  chivalry, 
has  passed  away  was  never  more  signally  shown 
than  in  the  utter  breaking  down  of  all  the  predic- 
tions that  followed  the  Afro-American  people  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage  into  the  home,  the  church 
and  the  school-house  of  freedom.  It  was  con- 
fidently predicted  by  his  enemies  that  he  was  in- 
capable of  mastering  the  common  rudiments  of 
education,  and  the  idea  that  he  could  master  the 
higher  education  was  laughed  out  of  court.  When 
the  war  came  to  a  close  in  1865  a  large  portion 
of  the  American  people  regarded  the  Afro-Amer- 
ican people  "as  less  than  man,  yet  more  than 
brute."  They  had  no  faith  in  the  possibility  of 
his  mental  or  moral  regeneration. 

And  yet,  in  those  early  days  when  the  race  was 
enslaved,  there  appeared  among  them  men  of  great 
piety  and  learning,  who  devoted  themselves,  where 
they  were  allowed  to  do  so,  to  the  education  of 
such  of  their  fellows  as  were  classed  as  ''free  ne- 
groes." Such  pioneers  in  the  work  of  education 
were  Rev.  Daniel  Alexander  Payne  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Rev.  J.  W.  Hood  of  North  Carolina,  Rev. 
John  Peterson  of  New  York,  George  B.  Vashin 
of  Missouri — men  who  illustrated  in  their  lives  and 
work  those  higher  virtues  of  capacity,  industry, 
devotion  to  race,  which    were    to    have    such    a 

79 


8o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

splendid  army  of  emulators  in  the  after  years  and 
under  more  favoring  conditions. 

No  sufficient  tribute  has  ever  been  paid  to  Gen- 
eral O.  O.  Howard,  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  Afro-American  educational  work  while  he  had 
charge  of  the  important  work  of  the  Freedman's 
Bureau.  It  is  meet  that  General  Samuel  Chapman 
Armstrong,  the  founder  of  the  Hampton  Normal 
and  Agricultural  Institute,  should  pay  him  such  a 
tribute.     General  Armstrong  said: 

"General  Howard  and  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
did  for  the  ex-slaves,  from  1865  to  1870,  a  mar- 
velous work,  for  which  due  credit  has  not  been 
given;  among  other  things,  giving  to  their  edu- 
cation an  impulse  and  a  foundation,  by  granting 
three  and  a  half  milHons  of  dollars  for  school- 
houses,  salaries,  etc.,  promoting  the  education  of 
about  a  million  colored  children.  The  principal 
negro  educational  institutions  of  to-day,  then  start- 
ing, were  liberally  aided,  at  a  time  of  vital  need. 
Hampton  received  over  $50,000  throueh  General 
Howard  for  building  and  improvements." 

But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  money  expended  by 
General  Howard  as  the  representative  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  direction  indicated  by  General  Arm- 
strong are  we  indebted  to  this  great  soldier  and 
philanthropist;  out  of  his  private  purse  he  founded 
Howard  University  at  the  capital  of  the  nation  and 
endowed  it  with  a  princely  domain,  which  must 
to-day  be  worth  $5,000,000  in  the  open  market. 
It  was  through  no  fault  of  General  Howard's  that 
this  endowment  was  scattered  to  the  w'inds. 

General  Armstrong  was  also  one  of  the  pioneers 
in  this  educational  work,  having  been  placed  by 


DR.  DANIEL  H.  WILLIAMS, 
Chicago,  111.,   Founder  of  Provident  Hospital  and  Training 
School,  Chicago;    Appointed  by  President  Cleveland  as 
Surgecn-in-Chief  of  the  Great  Freedman's  Hos- 
pital, Washington,  D.  C.    By  his  profession 
he  has  amassed  a  large  fortune;    as 
Physician  and  Surgeon  he  has 
few  equals  of  any  race 
or  country. 


8i 


82  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

General  Howard,  Commissioner  of  the  Freedman's 
Bureau,  in  charge  of  ten  counties  in  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia, with  headquarters  at  Hampton,  the  great 
''contraband"  camp,  ''to  manage  negro  affairs  and 
to  adjust,  if  possible,  the  relations  of  the  races." 
How  the  Hampton  work,  one  of  the  best  and 
strongest,  was  planted,  is  best  told  in  the  language 
of  General  Armstrong  himself: 

"On  relieving  my  'predecessor.  Captain  C.  B. 
Wilder,  of  Boston,  at  the  Hampton  headquarters, 
I  found  an  active,  excellent  educational  work  go- 
ing on  under  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion of  New  York,  which,  in  1862,  had  opened,  in 
the  vicinity,  the  first  school  for  freedmen  in  the 
South,  in  charge  of  an  ex-slave,  Mrs.  Mary  Peake. 
Over  1,500  children  were  gathering  daily;  some 
in  old  hospital  barracks — for  here  was  Camp  Ham- 
ilton, the  base  hospital  of  the  Army  of  the  James, 
where,  during  the  war,  thousands  of  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  had  been  cared  for,  and  where 
now  over  6,000  lie  buried  in  a  beautiful  national 
cemetery.  The  largest  class  was  in  the  'Butler 
School'  building,  since  replaced  by  the  'John  G. 
Whittier  school-house.' 

"Close  at  hand  the  pioneer  settlers  of  America 
and  the  first  slaves  landed  on  this  continent; 
here  Powhatan  reigned;  here  the  Indian  child 
was  baptized;  here  freedom  was  first  given  the 
slave  by  General  Butler's  'contraband'  order;  in 
sight  of  this  shore  the  battle  of  the  Merrimac  and 
Monitor  saved  the  Union  and  revolutionized  naval 
warfare;  here  General  Grant  based  the  operations 
of  his  final  campaign.     *     *     * 

"I    soon    felt    the   fitness   of   this    historic    and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  ^3 

strategic  spot  for  a  permanent  and  great  educa- 
tional work.  The  suggestion  was  cordially  re- 
ceived by  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
which  authorized  the  purchase,  in  June,  1867,  of 
'Little  Scotland,'  and  estate  of  125  ac;es  (since 
increased  to  190),  on  Hampton  River,  looking  out 
over  Hampton  Roads.  Not  expecting  to  have 
charge,  but  only  to  help,  I  was  surprised  one  day 
by  a  letter  from  Secretary  E.  P.  Smith  of  the  A. 
M.  A.,  stating  that  the  man  selected  for  the  place 
had  declined,  and  asking  me  if  I  could  take  it.  I 
replied  'Yes.'  Till  then  my  own  future  had  been 
blind;  it  had  only  been  clear  that  there  was  a  work 
to  do  for  the  ex-slaves,  and  where  and  how  it  should 
be  done. 

"A  day-dream  of  the  Hampton  school  nearly  as 
it  is  had  come  to  me  during  the  war  a  few  times; 
once  in  camp  during  the  siege  of  Richmond,  and 
once  one  beautiful  evening  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
while  on  the  wheel-house  of  the  transport  steam- 
ship Illinois  en  route  for  Texas  with  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Army  (negro)  Corps,  for  frontier  duty  on 
the  Rio  Grande  River,  whither  it  had  been  ordered, 
under  General  Sheridan,  to  watch  and  if  necessary 
defeat  Maximilian  in  his  attempted  conquest  of 
Mexico. 

'The  thing  to  be  done  was  clear:  To  train  se- 
lected negro  vouth  who  should  go  out  at  once  and 
teach  and  lead  their  people,  first  by  example,  by 
getting  land  and  homes;  to  give  them  not  a  dollar 
that  they  could  not  earn  for  themselves;  to  teach 
respect  for  labor;  to  replace  stupid  drudgery  with 
skilled  hands;  and,  to  these  ends,  to  build  up  an 
industrial  system,   for  the  sake  not  only  of  self- 


84  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

support  and  intelligent  labor,  but  also  for  the  sake 
of  character.  And  it  seemed  equally  clear  that  the 
people  of  the  country  would  support  a  wise  work 
for  the  freedmen.     I  think  so  still." 

They  have  done  it.  From  the  small  seed  planted 
at  Hampton,  and  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  work  of 
the  Freedman's  Bureau,  schools  of  elementary  and 
higher  education  rapidly  sprang  up  in  every  State. 
The  enthusiasm  with  which  these  schools  were 
filled,  not  only  by  the  young,  but  by  the  adults, 
astonished  not  only  the  people  of  the  North,  but 
those  of  the  South.  Many  who  watched  the  phe- 
nomenon, and  who  had  their  doubts  about  the 
capacity  of  the  Afro-American  people  to  receive 
mental  discipline  and  to  continue  in  well  doing,  said 
that  when  the  novelty  should  wear  off  these  school- 
houses  would  be  emptied  of  their  eager  disciples. 
But  they  were  not.  Each  succeeding  year  has  seen 
the  grand  army  of  school  children  grow  larger  and 
larger  and  more  earnest  in  enthusiasm;  and  the 
numerous  academies,  seminaries,  institutes  and  col- 
leges have  been  and  are  overcrowded. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  work  there  were  very 
few  Afro-Americans  competent  to  teach  and  there 
were  no  funds  to  carry  on  the  work,  as  the  common 
school  system  in  the  Southern  States  had  not  been 
inaugurated;  it  was  to  come  later,  after  the  work 
of  foundation-laying  had  been  done  under  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Freedman's  Bureau  and  the  organ- 
ized missionary  associations  of  the  North.  But 
where  were  the  teachers  to  come  from?  Unfor- 
tunately, I  think,  as  events  have  demonstrated,  the 
whites  were  indisposed  to  undertake  this  neces- 
sary work,  and  were  in  many  instances  hostile  to 


PROF.  W.  E.  B.  DUBOIS, 
Sociologist  and  Writer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 


85 


86  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

those  who  did  do  it.  There  are  few  brighter  pages 
in  the  missionary  history  of  the  world  than  that 
which  records  the  readiness  and  wilHngness  with 
which  the  white  men  and  women  of  the  Northern 
States  went  into  the  South,  into  its  large  cities 
and  its  waste  places,  and  labored  year  in  and  year 
out,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  Afro-American's 
religious'  and  educational  character,  and  the  un- 
paralleled financial  support  which  was  given  them, 
and  is  continued  to  this  day,  by  the  philanthropic 
people  of  the  North.  It  is  estiniated  that  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  educational  work  among  the 
Afro-American  people  of  the  South  the  philanthro- 
pists of  the  North,  directly  and  through  organized 
associations  like  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion and  the  Peabody  Fund,  have  expended  annu- 
ally an  average  of  one  million  dollars  since  1867, 
making  a  grand  total  of  $32,000,000.  Fully  a  hun- 
dred colleges,  institutes,  and  the  like  have  been 
established  and  maintained,  and  are  to-day  doing 
a  marvelous  work.  A  majority  of  these  schools 
have  white  management,  but  all  of  them  are  repre- 
sented in  their  faculties  by  their  graduates.  A 
great  many  of  them  are  managed  in  all  their  de- 
partments by  Afro-Americans. 

As  has  been  said,  these  schools  of  higher  learn- 
ing are  maintained,  for  the  most  part,  by  the  or- 
ganized charities  and  individual  philanthropists  of 
the  North.  There  are  two  funds  set  apart  for  this 
^^ork,  besides  the  Peabody  Fund,  of  which  the 
whites  receive  a  large  share — the  John  F.  Slater 
Fund  and  the  Hand  Fund,  of  a  million  dollars  each, 
the  income  of  which  is  applied  to  helping  these 
Afro- American  schools. 


PROF.  W.  H.  COUNCILL, 
President  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  Normal,  Ala. 


87 


88  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Mention  should  be  made  here  of  the  fact  that 
Hon.  Jonathan  C.  Gibbs,  one  of  the  first  Afro- 
American  graduates  of  Dartmouth  College,  was  one 
of  the  State  Superintendents  of  Education  of  Flor- 
ida in  the  Reconstruction  era,  and  died  while  hold- 
ing that  position.  His  son,  Hon.  Thomas  V.  Gibbs, 
died  in  1898,  after  having  done  much  as  its  secre- 
tary and  treasurer,  in  connection  with  President 
T.  DeS.  Tucker,  to  place  the  State  Normal  and 
Agricultural  College,  at  Tallahassee  on  a  prosper- 
ous foundation. 

With  the  inauguration  of  the  public  school  sys- 
tem in  the  Southern  States  the  voluntary  schools 
were  gradually  absorbed  and  their  Northern  teach- 
ers displaced  by  those  they  had  prepared.  The 
extent  and  importance  of  their  work  may  be  judg^ed 
by  the  fact  that  when  they  entered  the  field  in 
1866-7  there  were  comparatively  few  Afro- Amer- 
ican teachers  in  the  South,  whereas  to-day  there 
are  no  fewer  than  25,000  employed  in  the  public 
schools.  Baltimore,  I  believe,  is  the  only  Southern 
city  in  which  white  teachers  are  now  employed  in 
these  schools.  Any  unbiased  person  must  admit 
that  this  is  not  only  a  creditable  but  a  remarkable 
showing,  one  alike  creditable  to  the  race  and  to 
those  who  lavished  upon  it  time  and  money  to  ef- 
fect it. 

Most  of  the  Southern  States  maintain  normal 
and  agricultural  schools  for  the  education  of 
Afro-American  youths.  Alabama  not  only  does 
this,  but  makes  a  generous  appropriation  for  the 
work  of  the  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial  Insti- 
tute. Prof.  Richard  R.  Wright,  president  of  the 
State  Normal  College^  at  College,  Ga.,  is  perhaps 


PROF.  W.  S.  SCARABOROUGH,  A.  M.,  LL.  D.,  PH.  D., 

Vice-President  Wilberforce  University.     Has  written  a  Greek 

Grammar,  and  many  treatises  on  Greek.     Is  also 

a  member  of  seven  Educational  Societies. 


90  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  best  known  of  the  presidents  of  these  State 
institutions.  The  one  in  North  CaroHna,  presided 
over  by  James  B.  Dudley,  at  Greensboro,  also  has  a 
good  reputation.  In  South  Carolina,  ex-Congress- 
man Thomas  E.  Miller  has  charge  of  the  State 
School  at  Orangeburoh.  A  very  excellent  work 
is  being  done  by  Prof.  S.  G.  Atkins,  at  the  Slater 
Academy,  at  Winston,  N.  C,  one  of  the  few  schools 
of  its  kind  in  the  South  supported  in  large  part 
by  the  native  whites. 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Afri- 
can Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Churches  maintain 
a  large  number  of  schools.  The  main  school  of 
the  former  is  located  at  Wilberforce,  Ohio,  with 
S.  T.  Mitchell  as  president.  Prof.  W.  S.  Scar- 
borough, who  has  written  a  Greek  grammar  and 
many  treatises  on  Greek  subjects,  is  connected 
with  the  school — Will^erfore  University.  The  main 
school  the  latter  is  located  at  Salisbury,  N.  C,  W. 
H.  Goler  being  president.  The  school  was  built 
up  in  its  earlier  stages  by  Rev.  Joseph  C.  Price, 
who  had  the  reputation  in  his  lifetime  of  being- 
one  of  the  most  eloquent  men  in  the  Republic. 
The  Baptist  denomination  also  maintains  a  large 
number  of  schools. 

Among  the  schools  of  higher  learning  which 
have  an  assured  standing  may  be  mentioned  Lin- 
coln University,  in  Chester  County,  Pa.;  Howard 
University,  Washington,  D.  C;  Shaw  University, 
Raleigh,  N.  C;  Claflin  University,  Orangeburgii, 
S.  C;  Atlanta  and  Clark  Universities,  Morris 
Brown  College,  Gammon  Theological  Seminary  and 
Spelman  Seminary,  all  of  Atlanta;  Fisk,  Roger 
Williams  and  Central  Tennessee  Collesfes  at  Nash- 


PROF.  HIRAM  E.  ARCHER,  M.  S., 
Director  o:  the  Department  of  Science  and  Assistant  Prin- 
cipal in  the  Agricnlttiral  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege. Nrnnal,  Alabama. 


91 


92  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ville,  Tenn.;  Knoxville  College,  Knoxville,  Tenn.; 
Berea  College,  where  both  races  are  educated,  at 
Berea,  Ky. 

Among  the  normal  and  industrial  schools  Hamp- 
ton Institute  and  its  offspring,  the  Tuskegee  Insti- 
tute, at  Tuskegee,  Ala.,  head  the  list;  the  Calhoun 
School  at  Calhoun,  Ala.;  the  INIt.  Meigs  School,  at 
i\It.  Meigs,  Ala.;  the  Gloucester  School,  at  Glou- 
cester,  Va.,  with  the  State  industrial  schools  in  most 
of  the  Southern  States. 

The  educational  work  in  the  Southern  States  is 
accomplishing  wonders  in  the  moral  and  intellec- 
tual uplift  of  the  people,  which  has  already  been  felt 
in  the  life  of  the  South,  and  must  be  felt  in  larger 
measure  in  the  years  to  come.  There  has  been  a 
marked  tendency  of  late  years  to  make  the  educa- 
tion conform  more  to  the  industrial  lines  laid  by 
General  Armstrong.  This  is  a  healthy  sign,  as  the 
more  practical  education  is  the  better,  especially  as 
the  tendency  of  modern  industrialism  is  more  and 
more  towards  specialization  in  all  departments  of 
learning  and  activity  of  whatever  sort;  and  this  is 
said  without  intending  in  the  least  to  depreciate 
or  underrate  what  is  regarded  as  the  higher  edu- 
cation. All  education  is  good,  but  assuredly  that 
is  the  best  which  enables  a  man  to  fit  in  most  readi- 
ly with  the  conditions  of  life  in  which  he  finds  him- 
self. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SLAVERY  IN  THE  COLONIES. 

The  first  African  slaves  were  brought  to  the 
New  World  in  the  year  1565,  in  the  English  ship 
"Jesus,"  commanded  by  Sir  John  Hawkins,  under 
the  patronage  of  "Good  Queen  Bess."  Thus  we 
find  that  exactly  three  hundred  years  from  the 
landing  of  this  first  cargo  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
chained  slaves  at  St.  Domingo,  our  martyred 
President  went  to  his  God  bearing  the  shackles 
of  four  million  freedmen. 

The  demand  for  these  slaves  grew  out  of  the 
fact  that  Spanish  cruelty  had  exterminated  the  in- 
offensive Indians  found  on  the  islands,  and  it  was 
found  necessary  to  have  Negro  slaves  to  cultivate 
the  plantations. 

The  hearty  sons  of  Africa  not  only  survived  the 
oppressive  cruelty  of  their  heartless  task-masters, 
but  in  time  they  rebelled  against  them,  and  under 
their  invincible  "Black  Prince,"  Toussaint,  killed 
them  in  battle  or  drove  them  from  the  island. 
Thus,  as  Bancroft  well  says,  "Hayti,  the  first 
spot  in  America  that  received  African  Slaves, 
was  the  first  to  set  the  example  of  African  Lib- 
erty." 

He  also  says  the  sovereigns  of  England,  espec- 
ially   Elizabeth    and    Anne,  "participated  in    the 

93 


94  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

hazard,  the  profits    and    the  crimes,  and    became 
at  once  smugglers  and  slave  merchants." 

We  are  horrified  at  this  depravity,  and  yet  his- 
tory is  repeating  itself;  Christian  England  and 
America  are  to-day,  with  the  approval  of  their 
rulers,  sending  opium  to  China  and  rum  to  Africa. 

As  we  purpose  showing  how  slavery  spread  to 
the  different  colonies,  we  will  take  a  hasty  glance 
at  each  of  them,  in  the  order  of  its    introduction. 

Virginia,  1619: — It  seems  to  be  a  mooted  ques- 
tion among  historians,  as  to  whether  the  Dutch 
ship  landed  the  first  slaves  of  the  thirteen  original 
colonies  at  Jamestown,  Virginia,in  1619  or  1620. 
We  find  as  much  authority  for  the  one  year  as  the 
other;  but  upon  the  whole  we  are  inclined,  with 
Ridpath,  Williams  and  others,  to  favor  1619  as 
the  correct  date. 

However,the  first  slaves  that  landed  in  what  is  now 
the  United  States,  were  brought  to  Florida  at  the 
founding  of  St.  Augustine  in  1565,  by  Pedro  Men- 
endez  de  Aviles,  who  entered  into  a  compact  with 
his  sovereign,  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  in  which  he 
obligated  himself  to  take  with  him  five  hundred 
slaves. 

In  Virginia  the  institution  of  slavery  grew  very 
slowly  at  first,  and  the  Negroes  were  regarded  as 
chattels;  but  an  act  was  passed  in  1705  declaring 
them  to  be  real  estate. 

The  slaves  had  no  personal  rights,  and  could 
not  leave  the  plantation  to  which  they  belonged, 
without  a  written  pass  from  their  master.  If  one 
dared  to  lift  a  hand  against  a  Christian  (.?)  or  white 
man,  he  received  thirty  lashes,  and  if  he  resisted 
punishment,  was  liable  to  be  killed  with  impunity, 


REV.  N.   B.  WOOD, 
Historian  and  Lecturer. 


95 


06  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  his  murderer  was  guiltless  in  the  eyes  of  the 
law.  Trial  by  jury  was  denied  him,  and  more 
than  five  meeting  together  was  considered  felony, 
and  punishable  by  death. 

We  read  of  slaves  given  in  part  payment  to 
clergymen  for  preaching  to  whites,  but  no  record 
•of  any  one  preaching  to  Negroes.  A  few  Negroes 
were  emancipated  for  meritorious  services,  but  a 
law  passed  in  1699  required  them  to  leave  the 
colony  within  six  months  of  securing  their  liberty. 

New  York,  1628: — Slavery  was  introduced  at  this 
time;  but  the  kind-hearted  Dutch  treated  their 
Negro  slaves  with  much  humanity.  The  institu- 
tion was  mainly  patriarchal.  Manumissioa  of 
slaves  for  meritorious  services,  or  prompted  by 
justice,  was  quite  frequent.  Under  this  mild  sys- 
tem the  Negroes  were  correspondingly  happy. 
They  married  and  were  given  in  marriage,  they 
sowed  and  reaped  a  good  share  of  the  fruits  of 
their  labor.  While  there  were  no  schools  for 
them,  there  were  no  laws  against  their  receiving 
instruction  when  their  work  was  done. 

There  is  not  found  in  all  history  a  greater  con- 
trast than  is  presented  by  the  treatment  accorded 
these  slaves  by  the  humane  Dutch,  and  that  of 
their  English  conquerors.  In  1702  an  act  was 
passed  making  it  unlawful  to  trade  with  Negro 
slaves,  on  pain  of  fine  or  imprisonment. 

"Not  above  three  slaves  were  allowed  to  meet 
together,  on  pain  of  being  whipped  by  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  or  sent  to  jail." 

In  1 7 10  the  city  of  New  YorK  passed  an  ordi- 
nance forbidding  slaves  appearing  in  the  streets 
after    dark  without  a  lighted    lantern,  on    penalty 


A  NEW  CENTURY  97 

of  being  locked  up  in  the  watch-house  that  night, 
and  sent  to  prison  the  next  day  until  the  mastei 
paid  the  fine;  after  v/hich  the  slave  received  fifty 
lashes  and  was  discharged. 

A  slave  market  was  erected  at  the  foot  of  Wall 
Street,  where  slaves  were  sold  daily  to  the  highest 
bidder.  Negroes  had  no  family  relation,  but  lived 
together  by  common  consent.  Even  free  Negroes 
had  no  property,  land,  schools  or  other  privileges- 
Thus  their  lives  were  spent  in  a  huge  sepulcher 
and  they  were  buried  in  a  common  ditch  after 
death.  This  horrible  state  of  affairs  culmiinated 
in  the  so-called  "Negro  plot"  of  1741.  In  Febru- 
ary of  that  year  the  house  of  Robert  Hogg,  a 
merchant  of  New  York  City,  was  robbed  of  fine 
linen,  medals,  silver  coin,  etc.  The  case  was  given 
to  the  officers  of  the  law  to  arrest  and  punish  the 
guilty  parties.  They  pushed  the  case  with  such 
zeal  that  aided  by  a  "diseased  public  conscience, 
inflamed  by  religious  bigotry,  accelerated  by  hired 
liars,  and  consummated  in  the  blind  and  bloody 
action  of  a  court  and  jury  who  imagined  them- 
selvs  sitting  over  a  powder  magazine,"  they  per- 
petrated in  the  namie  of  law  the  darkest  and  most 
cruel  deed  in  American  history. 

From  May  iith  to  August  29th,  one  hundred 
and  fifty-four  Negroes  were  cast  into  prison,  four- 
teen of  whom  were  burned  at  the  stake,  eighteen 
hanged,  seventy-one  transported,  and  the  remain- 
der pardoned.  All  because  a  few  Negroes  stole 
goods  from  a  prominent  merchant,  "and  the  peo- 
ple imagined  a  vain  thing,"  namely,  that  a  plot 
was  made  by  the  Negroes  to  murder  the  \\hites 
and  bum    the  city.      Some  of    the    poor  Vvretcke^* 


98  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

resorted  to  accusing  others,  hoping  so  to  obtain 
pardon  thereby,  until  the  jail  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing. The  slightest  accusation  of  this  kind 
was  welcomed,  and  distorted  into  positive  proof 
of  guilt.  Moreover,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  "Negroes  were  considered  heathen,  and  there- 
fore not  sworn  by  the  court;  that  they  were  not 
allowed  counsel;  that  the  evidence  was  indirect, 
contradictory,  and  malicious;  while  the  trials  were 
hasty  and  unfair." 

In  time  all  believers  in  the  "Negro  Plot"  were 
converted  to  the  opinion  that  the  zeal  of  the 
magistrates  had  not  been  "according  to  knowl- 
edge," and  that  there  was  no  competent  evidence 
to  show  that  there  had  been  an  organized  plot. 
Every  fair  historian  now  condemns  the  heartless 
and  bloodthirsty  magistrates. 

Every  law  passed  by  the  legislature  of  New 
York  prior  to  the  Revolution,  tended  to  curtail 
the  Negroes'  rights,  until  their  condition  was 
little  removed  from  the  brute.  Nor  did  "Our 
Brother  in  Black"  fare  much  better  in  the  other 
colonies. 

Massachusetts,  1633: — We  come  now  to  con- 
sider slavery  in  the  "Old  Bay  State."  It  must 
have  been  introduced  before  1633,  for  we  read 
that  during  that  year  some  Pequod  Indians  found 
a  Negro  up  in  a  tree  who  was  lost  and  trying  to 
find  his  way  home.  The  Indians  were  frightened, 
so  ran  to  the  white  settlement  and  reported  they 
had  seen  the  Devil. 

As  early  as  1637  some  of  the  Fequod  Indians, 
"who  would  not  endure  the  yoke  or  be  obedient 
servants,"  were   sent   to    the    Bermudas   and   ex- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  99 

changed  for  Negroes,  Sometimes  slaves  received 
kind  treatment,  but  as  often  cruel;  depending  en- 
tirely upon  the  disposition  of  the  master. 

"Negro  children  were  considered  an  incum- 
brance in  the  family,  and  when  weaned,  were  given 
away  like  young  puppies,"  as  we  learn  from  the 
famous  Dr.   Dunlap. 

The  great  and  good  missionary  to  the  Indians, 
John  Eliot,  "had  long  lamented  with  a  bleeding 
and  burning  passion,  that  the  English  used  their 
Negroes  but  as  their  horses  or  their  oxen,  and 
that  so  little  care  was  taken  about  their  immortal 
souls;"  therefore  he  requested  their  masters  for 
several  miles  around  to  send  their  slaves  to  him 
that  he  might  instruct  them  "in  things  of  their 
Everlasting  Peace."  But  he  did  not  Hve  long 
enough  to  make  much  progress  in  this  noble  w^ork. 

As  might  have  been  expected  in  cultured  Massa- 
chusetts, there  were  those  wise  and  humane  enough 
to  realize  that  a  Negro  with  learning,  was  a  more 
valuable  slave  for  the  acquisition. 

Richard  Dalton,  of  Boston,  a  ripe  scholar  and 
great  linguist,  becoming  afflicted  with  weak  eyes, 
determined  to  teach  his  Negro  boy  Caesar  to  read 
Greek.  So  proficient  did  the  boy  become,  that 
he  could  read  aloud  to  his  master  any  Greek  author 
almost  as  readily  as  English. 

The  "Boston  Chronicle"  of  September  21st, 
1769,  has  the  following  advertisement:  "To  be 
sold,  a  likely  little  Negro  boy,  who  can  speak  the 
French  language,  and  very  fit  for  a  valet." 

Emboldened  by  this  evidence  of  capacity  for 
mental  culture,  and  fitness  for  citizenship,  the 
Negroes  demanded  the  privilege  of  British  subjects. 


loo  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

As  there  was  imminent  prospect  for  war  with  tne 
mother  country,  the  colonists  were  conciliatory  to 
them,  knowing  they  would  prove  a  factor  for 
or  against  them  in  case  of  war. 

The  famous  decision  of  Lord  Mansfield  about 
this  time,  in  the  Summersett  case,  tended  to  in- 
spire a  hope  in  the  breast  of  the  slaves  of  Massa- 
chusetts. It  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows: 
Charles  Stewart,  of  Boston,  was  in  London  with 
his  Negro  slave,  James  Summersett,  when  the 
slave  was  taken  sick,  and  abandoned  by  his  mas- 
ter, who  seemingly  did  not  care  whether  he  lived 
or  died.  The  Negro, recovering,  obtained  employ- 
ment. When  the  master  heard  of  it,  he  had  him 
arrested  and  put  on  board  a  ship  about  to  sail  for 
Jamaica,  where  he  was  to  be  sold. 

Some  friends  of  the  Negro  made  affidavits,  and 
obtained  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  In  the  ensuing 
trial  Lord  Mansfield  gave  his  decision  in  the  fol- 
lowing words:  "The  state  of  slavery  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  is  incapable  of  being  introduced  on 
any  reasons,  moral  or  political,  but  only  by  posi- 
tive law,  which  preserves  its  force  long  after  the 
reasons,  occasions,  and  time  itself  from  whence 
it  was  created  is  erased  from  memory.  It  is  so 
odious  that  nothing  can  be  suffered  to  support  it 
but  positive  law.  Whatever  inconveniences,  there- 
fore, may  follow  from  the  decision,  I  cannot  say 
this  case  is  allowed  or  approved  by  the  law  of 
England,  and  therefore  the  Black  must  be  dis- 
charged." 

Of  course  this  decision  produced  universal  joy 
among  the  Colonial  Negroes,  and  it  caused  the 
question    to    arise,    as   to    whether   the    Colonial 


A  NEW  CENTURY  loi 

governments  could  pass  acts  legalizing  that  which 
was  contrary  to  the  law  of  England. 

Maryland,  1634: — This  colony  was  united  with 
Virginia  until  1630;  consequently  slavery  was  reg- 
ulated by  the  laws  of  the  "Old  Dominion"  up  to 
that  time.  Thus  when  the  English  Catholics  un- 
der Lord  Baltimore  settled  Maryland  in  1634, 
they    found    slavery    had    preceded    them. 

The  slaves  here  were  worked  in  a  great  variety  of 
employments,  such  as  cultivating  tobacco,  chop- 
ping,learning  the  different  mechanical  trades,  han- 
dling light  crafts  along  the  water  courses,  fishing 
and  taking  oysters.  This  created  a  great  demand  for 
Negroes,  and  their  number  increased  very  rapidly. 
The  period  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  years, 
from  the  founding  of  the  Colony  to  the  Revolu- 
tion, is  described  as  "one  long  starless  night  of 
oppression  and  outrage." 

As  a  sample  of  the  brutality  of  the  laws  govern- 
ing Negroes,  an  Act  was  passed  in  1723,  where 
the  penalty  of  a  Negro  or  other  slave  striking  a 
white  person  was  to  have  his  ears  "cropt  on  order 
of  a  justice."  The  Mosaic  law  taught  "an  eye  for 
an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  but  in  this  code 
both  ears  were  forfeited  for  one  blow.  In  1729  a 
still  more  inhuman  Act  was  passed,  by  which  Ne- 
groes and  other  slaves  found  guilty  of  certain 
crimes,  should  be  hanged,  and  afterwards  the 
bodies  quartered  and  exposed  to  public  view. 
Cannibals  would  go  only  one  step  further;  they 
would  eat  them  after  being  quartered. 

They  capped  the  climax  in  1752  by  passing  an 
Act  forbidding  emancipation  by  "last  will  and 
testament,  or   giving   freedom  to  Negro  slaves  in 


102  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

any  way."  Thus,  like  the  horse  or  ox,  the  Negr: 
of  Maryland  was  absolute  property  for  life.  He 
was  simply  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  an  upright, 
reasoning,  talking  animal;    nothing  more  nor  less. 

Delaware,  1636: — ^Vincint,  the  historian  of  this 
Colony,  shows  that  slavery  existed  on  the  Dela- 
ware River  as  early  as  1636. 

The  record  shows  that  Peter  Alricks,  Calvert, 
D'Hinoyossa,  and  two  Indian  chiefs,  met  in 
council  in  September,  1661,  to  arrange  a  treaty. 
At  this  time  it  was  agreed  to  furnish  the  Dutch 
every  year  three  thousand  hogsheads  of  tobacco, 
provided  the  Dutch  would  "supply  them  with 
Negroes  and  other  commodities."  Thus  we  find  an 
iuter-Colonial  traffic  in  slaves  established. 

We  infer  that  slaves  were  frequently  manumit- 
ted in  this  Colony,  from  the  fact  that  an  Act 
was  passed  in  1739  providing  that  good  security 
should  be  given  in  case  of  manumission,  that  the 
county  should  not  be  at  any  charge  by  reason  of 
sickness  or .  incapacity  for  self-support  on  the 
part  of  said  slave.  Upon  the  whole,  the  Negro 
fared  better  in  Dslaware  than  in  some  of  the  other 
colonies.  But  even  here  he  had  no  rights  of  any 
kind. 

Connecticut,  1646:  —There  is  a  strong  presump- 
tive evidence  that  slavery  existed  here  from  the 
beginning,  certainly  since  1646,  in  spite  of  a  law 
passed  in  1642,  which  read  as  follows:  "If  any 
man  stealeth  a  man  or  mankind,  he  shall  be  put 
to  death.'    Exodus  XXI.  16." 

Of  course  this  law  was  a  dead  letter,  but  the 
growth  of  slavery  in  this  colony  was  very  gradual. 

It  is  refreshing  to  read  of  an  Act  passed  in  1702 


JOHN  G.  MITCHELL, 
The  Aggressive  Editor  of  the  Richmond  Planet. 


103 


104  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

for  the  benefit  of  a  certain  class  of  slaves.  It 
seems  that  certain  heartless  masters  were  in  the 
habit  of  working  their  slaves  until  they  were  de- 
crepit and  worn  out  in  their  service,  and  when 
they  were  no  longer  profitable,  emancipated  them 
to  live  on  charity  or  starve.  They  would  then 
pose  as  those  who  had  done  noble  deeds.  But 
the  law-makers  were  not  deceived,  and  passed  an 
Act  compelling  the  owners  of  such  slaves,  or  their 
heirs,  to  provide  for  them  in  their  old  age,  even  if 
they  had  liberated  them  by  turning  them  out  like 
an  old  horse  to  die. 

We  are  glad  to  note  that  the  law  was  rigidly 
enforced.  But  let  no  man  imagine  that  a  slave 
life  in  this    Colony    was    "a  flowery  bed  of  ease." 

Often  was  he  publicly  flogged  for  the  high  crime 
and  misdemeanor  of  being  out  the  night  before 
without  a  pass  from  his  master.  And  to  make 
matters  worse,  if  he  used  any  strong  epithets,  or 
gave  vent  to  his  feelings  in  defamatory  language, 
while  undergoing  punishment,  he  was  subject  to  a 
double  dose  of  the  same  medicine,  by  special  Act 
passed  in  1730. 

Perhaps,  like  a  man  we  have  heard  of,  he  com- 
forted himself  with  the  thought  that  he  could  not 
do  such  a  law  justice,  and  therefore  said  nothing. 
The  man  referred  to  was  a  proverbial  record- 
breaker  in  profanity.  He  was  drawing  a  load  of 
apples  up  a  steep  hill,  when  the  end  board  came 
out  and  all  the  apples  rolled  out  of  the  wagon 
pell-mell  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  Thinking  he 
could  not  do  the  occasion  justice,  the  man  simply 
folded  his  arms  and  said  nothings 

When    the  mutterings    of    the  impending    war 


A  NEW  CENTURY  105 

were  heard  in  the  distance,  the  colonists  were 
aroused  to  the  inconsistency  of  fighting  for  free- 
dom while  holding  slaves  in  cruel  bondage.  Nor 
were  they  blind  to  the  fact  that  their  Negroes 
could  be  induced  by  kind  treatment  to  help  them 
against  the  common  enemy.  Accordingly  the 
following  Act  was  passed  in  1774:  "No  Indian, 
Negro  or  mulatto  slave  shall  at  any  time  hereafter 
be  brought  or  imported  into  this  state,  by  sea  or 
land,  from  any  place  or  places  whatsoever,  to  be 
disposed  of,  left  or  sold,  within  this  state."  Thus 
we  find  that  Connecticut  tried  to  alleviate  the 
condition  of  her  slaves,  and  legislate  against  the 
nefarious  traffic. 

She  should  have  taken  one  more  step  and  liber- 
ated the  slaves  she  had  at  this  time,  but  had  she 
done  so,  doubtless  England  would  have  repealed 
the  Act,  as  she  did  in  the  case  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Hampshire.  We  think  it  might  be  recorded 
of  Connecticut,  "She  hath  done  what  she  could." 
Her  sable  sons  showed  their  appreciation  of  her 
kindness  by  fighting  nobly  to  free  their  masters  in 
the  Revolutionary  struggle. 

Rhode  Island,  1647: — It  is  supposed  slavery  was 
introduced  in  this  year.  It  remained  for  this  liberty- 
loving  little  colony  to  pass  the  first  positive  Act 
against  slavery  recorded  in  modern  history.  It 
was  passed  in  1652  by  the  General  Court,  and  is 
worded  as  follows:  "Whereas,  there  is  a  common 
course  practiced  among  Englishmen  to  buy  Ne- 
gers,  to  that  end  they  may  have  them  for  service 
or  slaves  forever;  for  the  preventinge  of  such  prac- 
tices among  us,  let  it  be  ordered  that  no  biacke 
mankind  or  white  being  forced  by  covenant  bond. 


io6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

or  otherwise,  to  serve  any  man  or  his  assignees- 
longer  than  ten  years,  or  until  they  come  to  bee 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  if  they  bee  taken  in  un- 
der fourteen,  from  the  time  of  their  cominge  with- 
in the  liberties  of  this  Collonie.  And  at  the  end 
or  terme  of  ten  years  to  sett  them  free,  as  the 
manner  is  with  the  English  servants.  And  that 
man  that  will  not  let  them  goe  free,  or  shall  sell 
them  away  elsewhere,  to  that  end  that  they  may 
bee  enslaved  to  others  for  a  long  time,hee  or  they 
shall  forfeit  to  the  Collonie  forty  pounds." 

We  rejoice  that  this  little  Colony,  founded  by 
Roger  Williams,  the  friend  cf  the  oppressed,  the 
defender  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  should  put 
herself  on  record  in  this  manner.  It  is  about  the 
kind  of  law  one  would  expect  from  "Little 
Rhodie."  But  it  is  deplorable  that  it  was  abortive 
and  became  a  dead  letter,  since  it  was  not  backed 
up  by  public  sentim.ent,  either  in  the  Colony  or 
the  mother  country.  For  it  is  notoriously  true 
that  slavery  flourished  here  even  with  this  law 
upon  the  statute  books. 

No  doubt  some  good  came  of  the  law,  for  as 
Bancroft  well  says,  "the  law  was  not  enforced, 
but  the  principle  lived  among  the  people."  For 
we  read  that  when  Acts  were  passed  imposing 
fines  on  "housekeepers"  for  entertaining  slaves 
after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  they  paid  their  fines 
cheerfully  and  continued  to  treat  the  slaves  kindly. 
This  shows  that  the  leaven  of  the  anti-slavery  law 
was  permeating  the  Colony. 

New  Jersey,  1664:  —  Slavery  was  introduced  here 
before  the  formation  of  a  separate  colony,  and 
probably  near  the  same  time  it  appeared  in  New 
Netherlands. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  107 

The  record  of  early  history  in  New  Jersey  in 
meager,  but  enough  is  known  to  show  the  slaves 
received  kinder  treatment  here  than  in  any  of  the 
other  colonies.  This  was  the  invariable  rule  where 
the  population  was  composed  largely  of  Quakers 
and  Dutch.  With  the  exception  of  an  Act  pro- 
tecting slaves  from  drunkenness,  by  punishing  those 
who  sold  or  gave  them  rum,  few  laws  of  impor- 
taftce  touching  slavery  were  passed  for  many  years. 

An  Act  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  East  Jersey 
in  1664  provided  for  the  trial  of  "Negroes  and 
other  slaves  for  felonies  punishable  with  death," 
to  be  by  a  jury  of  twelve  persons  before  three 
justices  of  the  peace;  for  theft,  before  two  justices; 
the  punishment  by  whipping.  To  the  glory  of 
New  Jersey  be  it  said  this  was  the  only  Colony 
that  gave  to  the  Negro  that  coveted  boon,  the 
right  of  trial  by  jury.  In  most  of  the  other  colonies 
the  Negro  was  convicted  even  before  the  mock 
trial,  often  without  the  shadow  of  justice.  But 
here  I  doubt  not  he  had  both  shadow  and  sub- 
stance. Verily  in  this  Colony,  "the  lines  had 
fallen  unto  him  in  pleasant  places." 

The  example  of  the  Quakers  for  teaching  the 
colored  people  was  contagious,  for  others  gave 
them  instruction,  and  encouraged  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel  unto  them.  It  is  believed  that  free 
Negroes  were  enlisted  in  rrilitary  companies  of  this 
Colony.  And  the  law  of  1760  implies  that  slaves 
for  life  could  be  enlisted  by  obtaining  permission 
from  their  masters. 

South  Carolina,  1665: — The  entire  slave  popu- 
lation of  South  Carolina  was  regarded  as  chattel 
property  absolutely.     The  solemnity  of  a  jury  was 


io8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

never  tillowed  them.  But  in  case  of  "burglary, 
robbery,  burning  of  houses,  killing  or  stealing  of 
any  meat  or  other  cattle,  or  other  petty  injuries, 
as  maiming  one  of  another,  stealing  of  fowls,  pro- 
visions, or  such  like  trespass,  or  injuries,"  he  was 
tried  for  his  life  before  two  justices  and  three 
freeholders,  who  often  sentenced  him  to  death  for 
the  most  trivial  offence. 

The  code  of  laws  of  South  Carolina  for  the  cor- 
rection of  slaves  stands  without  a  parallel  for 
cruelty.  For  striking  a  white  man,  he  was  severely 
w^hipped  for  the  first  offence,  for  the  second 
whipped  still  more  severely,  had  his  nose  slit,  and 
face  burned,  and  for  the  third  offence  a  cruel  death 
was  his  portion.  If  any  Negro,  slave  or  free,  tried 
to  persuade  some  other  slave  to  run  off  out  of  the 
colony,  he  received  on  conviction  forty  lashes  and 
was  branded  on  the  forehead  with  a  red-hot  iron, 
that  "the  mark  thereof  might  remain."  Any  white 
man  meeting  a  Negro  might  demand  of  him  to 
show  his  ticket;  and  on  refusal  could  "beat,  maim 
or  assault  him."  And  if  such  slave  could  not  be 
taken, to  "kill  him." 

Such  codes  trained  the  white  people  into  a  brood 
of  tyrants.  Even  the  "poor  white  trash,"  who 
did  not  own  a  Negro,  would  knock  them  down, 
and  throw  them  off  the  sidewalk  in  wanton  cruelty; 
while  the  overseer  who  was  most  disposed  to  beat 
and  torture  the  poor  Negro  received  the  highest 
salary.  The  young  white  boys  took  their  cue 
from  their  fathers  and  overseers,  and  it  was  a  com- 
mon sight  to  see  them  in  their  sports,  whip  in  hand, 
threatening  or  punishing  the  little  Negroes. 

In    time  a  reaction  took  place,  for    it    dawned 


A  NEW  CENTURy  109 

upon  the  planters  that  a  Negro  could  do  more 
labor  with  less  abuse,  especially  where  it  was 
bestowed  by  those  having  no  authority.  A  law 
existed  against  teaching  a  Negro  to  read  or  write, 
but  for  obvious  reasons  there  was  more  leniency 
shown  them  some  years  before  the  Revolution. 

North  Carolina,  1669: — The  code  of  laws  pro- 
posed by  Dracho  for  Athens  is  said  to  have  been 
written  in  blood,  because  of  its  severity.  The 
constitution  and  code  of  laws  drafted  by  John 
Locke  for  the  government  of  North  Carolina,  might 
be  described  as  written  in  blood  with  a  goose-quill. 
Surely  a  more  brutal,  unwieldy  and  asinine  code 
was  never  proposed  for  the  government  of  a  crude 
young  colony,  but  little  removed  from  a  backwoods 
settlement,  in  the  world's  history.  All  of  the  in- 
soluble problems  of  political  economy  of  the  past, 
much  of  the  visionary  speculation  of  the  future,  was 
dumped  into  a  common  heap  by  this  absurd  instru- 
ment. In  short, it  might  be  defined  as  a  conglomer- 
ation of  heterogeneous  inconsistencies.  The  poet 
assures  us-that, 

"Kings  and  Lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade, 

A  breath  can  make  them  as  a  breath  has  made, 
But  the  honest  yeomanry,  the  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  suppHed. " 

The  Locke  constitution  was  an  insult  to  hu- 
manity and  designed  to  wrest  from  the  yeomanry 
what  few  rights  were  conferred  by  the  Magna 
Charta. 

We  read  that  "no  elective  franchise  could  be 
conferred  upon  a  freeholder  of  less  than  fifty 
acres,"  while  "all  executive  power  was  vested  in 
the  proprietors  themselves,  or  the  nobility." 


no  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

According  to  Bancroft:  "The  instinct  of  aris- 
tocracy dreads  the  moral  power  of  a  proprietary 
yeomanry;  the  perpetual  degradation  of  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil  was  enacted  The  leet-men  or 
tenants,  holding  ten  acres  of  land  at  a  fixed  rent, 
were  not  only  destitute  of  political  franchise,  but 
were  adscripts  of  the  soil;  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  lord  without  appeal;  and  it  was  added, 
•all  the  children  of  leet-men  shall  be  leet-men, 
and  so  to  all  generations.'"  It  seems,  then,  that 
tenants  were  but  little  more  then  serfs  or  slaves; 
and  if  they,  Anglo  Saxons  as  they  were,  received 
such  treatment  at  the  hands  of  these  petty  lords, 
so-called,  what  mercy  could  the  poor  Negro  ex- 
pect? "If  they  have  called  the  master  of  the 
house  Beelzebub,  how  much  more  shall  they  call 
them  of  his  household?" 

By  way  of  numbering  largely  and  for  political 
purposes,  they  received  the  Negro  slaves  into  the 
established  church.  But  in  the  constitution  we 
find  this  language:  "Every  freeman  of  Carolina 
shall  have  absolute  power  and  authority  over  his 
Negro  slaves  of  what  opinion  or  religion  soever;" 
thus  his  humanity  was  conceded,  and  a  little 
regard  had  for  his  i^oul,  but  his  body  was  the  ab- 
solute property  of  a  brutal  owner  who  "neither 
feared  God  nor  regarded  man."  While  Negroes 
were  received  into  the  church,  there  is  no  record 
of  any  effort  made  in  or  out  of  the  church  to  give 
them  instruction  or  banish  their  dark  clouds  of 
ignorance,  superstition  and  crime. 

While  traveling  from  one  plantation  to  another, 
a  Negro  was  required  to  take  the  most  frequented 
road  or  path;  and  if  found  in  any  other,except  in  the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  m 

company  of  a  white  man,  he  was  Hable  to  be  seized 
by  the  owner  of  the  land  through  which  he  was 
passing,  and  hit  forty  lashes.  If  one  Negro  enter- 
tained another  from  a  different  plantation,  at 
night,  the  only  time  they  could  visit,  he  was  sub- 
ject to  twenty  lashes  on  his  bare  back,  while  the 
guest  received  forty  in  the  same  manner.  Still 
there  was  one  clause  of  humanity  in  this  code 
which  is  commendable.  In  case  a  poor  half- 
starved  slave  was  found  guilty  of  stealing  hogs  or 
corn,  damages  could  be  recovered  against  his 
master  in  the  county  or  general  court.  But  we 
turn  from  this  to  a  brutal  act  where  a  slave  guilty 
of  giving  false  testimony,  "should  have  one  ear 
nailed  to  the  pillory,  and  there  stand  for  the  space 
of  one  hour,  the  said  ear  to  be  cut  off,  and  there- 
after the  other  ear  nailed  in  like  manner,  and  cut 
off  at  the  expiration  of  one  other  hour  "  The 
Locke  constitution  seemed  to  create  an  insatiable 
thirst  for  blood,  so  much  so,  and  the  murder  of 
slaves  became  so  frequent,  that  the  Legislature 
was  forced  to  call  a  halt,  by  refusing  to  pay  for 
the  slaves  killed. 

New  Hampshire,  1679:  — Public  sentiment  of  this 
Colony  was  decidedly  opposed  to  Negro  slavery, 
and  the  Governor  used  his  authority  to  manumit 
a  slave  March  14,  1684.  Belknap's  History  of 
New  Hampshire  thus  records  the  fact:  "The 
governor  tould  Mr.  Jeffery's  Negro  hee  might  goe 
from  his  master,  hee  would  clere  him  under  hande 
and  sole,  so  the  fello  no  more  attends  his  mas- 
ter's conscernes."  In  their  criminal  code  we  find 
this  article:  "If  any  man  stealeth  mankind,  he 
shall    be    put    to    death,  or  otherwise    grievously 


112  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

punished."  It  is  safe  to  infer  that  this  law  would 
not  have  been  a  dead  letter-  in  this  Colony  as  it 
was  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut;  but  un- 
fortunately England  rejected  the  whole  code  as 
"fanatical  and  absurd."  The  Governor  of  thif 
Colony,backed  by  public  sentiment, determined  to 
do  all  he  could  to  prevent  legal  recognition  of 
slaves;  but  in  this  he  was  opposed  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  Crown,  as  the  following  order  of  1761 
would  indicate:  "You  are  not  to  give  your  assent 
to,  or  pass  any  law  imposing  duties  on  Negroes 
imported  into  New  Hampshire." 

The  severe  climate  mitigated  against  their  prof- 
itable  use;  so  few  Negroes  found  their  way  into 
the  Colony.  While  some  were  treated  with  great 
kindness,  others  through  neglect,  poorly  clad  and 
fed,  were  often  hurried  to  premature  graves.  This 
called  for  an  Act  in  1718  for  restraining  inhuman 
severities  inflicted  upon  servants  and  slaves;  a 
portion  of  which  we  quote  from  "Freedom  and 
Bondage,"  as  follows:  "If  any  man  smite  out  the 
eye  or  tooth  of  his  man  servant  or  maid  servant, 
or  otherwise  maim  or  disfigure  them  much,  unless 
it  be  by  mere  casualty,  he  shall  let  him  or  her  go 
free  from  his  service.  If  any  person  or  persons 
whatever  in  this  province  shall  willfully  kill  his 
Indian  or  Negro  servant  or  servants,  he  shall  be 
punished  with  death."  Probably  this  is  the  only 
Colony  that  ever  passed  a  law  inflicting  the  death 
penalty    on  a  man   for   murdering  a  Negro   slave. 

Pennsylvania,  1681: — It  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
Quakers  that  one  of  their  number,  Francis  Daniel 
Pastorius,  drafted  the  first  protest  against  slavery 
issued  by  any   religious  body   in   America-      This 


JUDSOIS  Vv.  L\01^S, 

Register  of  the  Treasury,  Washington,  D.   C,  who  has  to 

sign  Uncle  Sam's  money  to  make  it  good. 


113 


1.4  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

was  written  in  1688,  and  adopted  by  the  German- 
town  Friends,  and  by  them  sent  to  the  monthly 
meeting,  and  thence  to  the  yearly  meeting  at 
Philadelphia.  The  original  of  this  remarkable 
document  was  found  by  Nathan  Kite  of  Philadel- 
phia in  i8z,4.  Referring  to  the  slaves  it  said: 
"Have  not  these  Negroes  as  much  right  to  hght  for 
their  freedom  as  you  have  to  keep  them  slaves?" 
It  prophesied  the  time  would  come, 

"When  from  the  gallery  to  the  farthest  seat, 
Slave  and  slave  owner  shall  no  longer  meet. 
But  all  sit  equal  at  the  Master's  feet." 

It  also  boldly  denounced  "the  buying,  selling, 
and  holding  men  in  slavery,  as  inconsistent  with 
the  Christian  religion."  But  when  this  memorial 
came  for  action  before  the  yearly  meeting,  it  was 
voted  "not  proper  then  to  give  a  positive  judg- 
ment in  the  case."  Still  in  1696  the  yearly  meet- 
ing pronounced  in  unmistakable  language  against 
importing  more  slaves,  and  adopted  measures 
tending  to  the  m.oral  improvement  of  those  in  the 
Colony.  George  Keith  denounced  slavery  "as  con- 
trary to  the  religion  of  Christ,  the  rights  of  man, 
and  sound  reason  and  policy." 

The  pious  philanthropist,  William  Penn,  tried 
in  vain  to  embody  his  anti-slavery  sentiments  into 
the  law  of  the  province. 

He  encouraged  his  people  by  example  and  in- 
fluence to  treat  the  poor  Negro  with  great  kind- 
ness and  justice,  and  we  see  the  Society  of  Friends 
did  more  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  slaves 
than  any  other  religious  body.  On  the  seventh  of 
June,  1 71 2,  a  bill  was  passed  emancipating  slaves 
by  law,  but  was  repealed  by  Queen  Anne,  thg 
notorious  slave  merchant. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  nS 

Georgia,  1732:  — General  John  Oglethorpe,  the 
founder  and  first  Governor  of  Georgia,  has  received 
much  unmerited  praise  from  the  casual  reader  of 
history  because  he  opposed  the  introduction  of 
slavery  into  that  Colony.  But  his  opposition  was 
based  on  political  and  prudential  motives,  rather 
than  philanthropy.  Dr.  Stevens,  the  Georgia 
historian,  informs  us  that  even  Oglethorpe  owned 
a  plantation  and  Negroes  in  South  Carolina,  about 
forty  miles  above  Savannah. 

England  was  anxious  to  have  a  strong  settle- 
ment of  white  men  on  her  southern  boundary,  to 
protect  her  from  the  Spanish  Colony  on  the  south, 
and  the  Indians  on  the  west;  so  it  was  thought 
the  introduction  of  Negroes  would  be  unfavorable 
to  this  scheme,  as  they  were  apt  to  desert  to  the 
Spanish.  But  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  trustees 
for  prohibiting  slavery  were:  "i.  Its  expense, 
both  in  buying  and  keeping  a  Negro  slave.  2.  It 
would  induce  to  idleness  and  render  labor  degrad- 
ing. 3.  The  settlers  being  freeholders  of  fifty  acres 
each,  requiring  only  one  or  two  extra  hands  for 
their  cultivation,  the  German  servants  would  be 
more  profitable  than  black." 

Moreover, it  was  claimed  that  the  cultivation  of 
silk  and  wine  requiring  skill  rather  than  strength 
and  endurance,  whites  were  better  adapted  to  it 
than  Negroes. 

As  the  colony  grew,  England  became  determined 
to  carry  out  her  original  policy ;  but  the  settlers  were 
equally  resolved  to  have  Negroes.  The  constant 
toast  of  the  authorities  was  "the  one  thing  need- 
ful," Negroes;  they  even  smuggled  them  into  the 
Colony.      The  opposition  weakened,  and  in    174P 


ii6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Rev.  Martin  Bolzins  wrote  to  the  trustees  as  fol- 
lows: "Things  being  now  in  such  a  melancholy 
state,  I  must  humbly  beseech  your  honors  not  to 
regard  our,  or  our  friends  petition  against  Negroes." 
Even  the  great  George  Whitefield  used  his  ut- 
most influence  in  favor  of  bringing  Negroes  into 
the  Colony.  It  seems  that  he  had  a  visionary 
scheme  to  build  an  orphanage  in  Georgia  for  the 
benefit  of  Indian  children. 

Through  the  bounty  of  his  friends,  Whitefield 
owned  two  small  plantations;  one  in  South  Caro- 
lina, where  slaves  were  employed,  the  other  in 
Georgia,  where  only  free  help  was  used.  In  his 
letter  to  the  trustees  of  Georgia,  he  rejoices  in  the 
success  of  the  plantation  in  South  Carolina,  ena- 
bling him  to  support  a  great  many  orphans,  but 
deplores  the  fact  that  the  one  in  Georgia  was  a 
failure,  and  concludes  by  saying:  "This  confirms 
me  in  the  opinion  I  have  entertained  for  a  long 
time,  that  Georgia  never  can  or  will  be  a  flour- 
ishing province  without  Negroes  are  allowed." 
What  a  contrast  is  presented  by  Whitefield's 
view  and  that  of  a  nobler  and  grander  contem- 
porary reformer,  John  Wesley,  whose  name  will 
be  fragrant  while  time  lasts.  Said  he:  "Slavery 
iSf  in  and  of  itself,  the  execrable  sum  of  all 
villainies." 

We  wonder  if  Whitefield  ever  considered  that 
one  reason  why  his  South  Carolina  plantation  was 
profitable,  was  because  it  was  run  on  the  economi- 
cal plan  of  half  starving  and  overworking  the 
poor  slaves,  stimulated  as  they  were  by  the  over- 
seer's lash  We  wonder,  too,  if  he  considered  that 
slavery  was  the  prime  cause  of  making  an  orphan- 


'A  NEW  CENTURY  iiy 

age  necessary,  since  this  cruel  system  produced 
more  orphans  among  the  Indians  and  Negroes  than 
all  other  agencies  combined.  Did  he  take  into 
account  the  character  of  labor  then  used  on  Georgia 
plantations,  such  as  were  obtained  by  emptying 
the  jails  and  almshouses  of  England;  men  who 
were  by  nature  and  practice  crminals  and  vagrants, 
of  whom  it  might  have  been  said,  "they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin?"  Lastly,  we  wonder  if  this 
great  preacher  ever  noticed  closely  the  language 
of  his  Lord,  "One  is  your  Master, even  Christ;  and 
all  ye  are  brethren."  Under  the  influence  of 
Whitefield  and  others,  slavery  was  introduced  in 
1749.  Thus  the  seeds  of  slavery  were  sown  in 
this  the  youngest  and  fairest  of  the  original  thir- 
teen colonies.  Some  of  the  terrible  harvest  was 
reaped  by  the  swords  of  Sherman's  army  in  that 
never  to  be  forgotten  march  through  the  state; 
during  which  they  burned  and  wasted  the  country, 
"sixty  miles  in  latitude,  three  hundred  to  the 
main."  Verily,  "God  is  not  mocked:  for  whatso- 
ever a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
NEGRO  SOLDIERS  IN  THE  REVOLUTION. 


It  was  said  that  Marshal  Ney  fought  five  hun- 
dred battles  for  France,  and  not  one  against  her, 
and  yet  he  was  shot  as  a  traitor  to  his  country. 
So  in  reading  the  annals  of  history,  we  see  the 
Negro  fought  to  gain  and  perpetuate  the  liberty  of 
this  country,  in  every  prominent  war,  from  the 
French  and  Indian  to  the  Rebellion,  while  he 
himself  was  forced  to  remain  in  bondage. 

We  read  of  no  greater  inconsistency  or  more 
indefensible  farce,  than  to  call  this  the  land  of 
freedom,  when  millions  of  her  people  were  slaves, 
including  some  of  the  most  gallant  defenders  of 
this  country  or  their  descendants. 

When  we  meet  together  on  "the  day  we  cele- 
brate," our  orators  are  prone  to  ring  the  changes 
on  the  American  eagle,  Washington  and  the  brave 
patriots  of  '']6\  but  who  ever  heard  a  Fourth  of 
July  orator  refer  to  La  Fayette  and  the  French, 
or  the  other  brave  foreigners,  but  for  whom  our 
^ause  would  probably  have  failed.? 

When  was  a  reference  in  such  a  speech,  made  to 
the  part  performed  by  the  black  men  in  that  glori- 
ous struggle  for  freedom?     It    would  almost  seem 

118 


A  NEW  CENTURY  119 

that  a  systematic  effort  was  made  to  consign  these 
swarthy  heroes  to  oblivion,  and  obliterate  their  very 
names  from  the  page  of  history.  But  we  are  glad  to 
know  that  the  effort  was  a  futile  one.  Still,  while 
ourdatas  are  somewhat  fragmentary, they  are  am- 
ple for  a  sketch,  and  we  doubt  not,  the  greater 
part  of  the  story  which  perhaps  will  never  be 
known  was  fully  equal  to  this  sample:  — 

There  is  positive  proof  that  at  least  two  Negroes 
c  f  Virginia,  Israel  Titus  and  Samuel  Jenkins,  fought 
under  Braddock  and  Washington  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war.  The  first  died  at  Williamstown, 
Massachusetts, in  1855, about  one  hundred  and  ten 
years  of  age.  A  sketch  of  his  life  was  published 
in  the  Springfield  Republican  of  about  that  date. 
Samuel  Jenkins  is  thought  to  have  been  about 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  years  old  when  he  died  at 
Lancaster,  Ohio,  in  1849.  The  Lancaster  Gazette 
of  that  period  gave  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life,  re- 
markable in  many  respects. 

There  were  doubtless  others  in  this  war  who 
lived  and  died  unknown  to  fame,  their  names  and 
records  having  been  lost 

The  protomartyr  of  the  Revolutionary  war  was 
Crispus  Attucks,  a  Negro,  who  was  the  leader  in 
the  Boston  massacre  on  that  memorable  5th  of 
March,  1770.  Attucks  led  the  citizens  in  the 
charge,  shouting,  "The  way  to  get  rid  of  these 
idlers  is  to  attack  the  main  guard;  strike  at  the 
root;  this  is  the  nest !"  These  were  perhaps  his 
last  words,  as  his  men  threw  a  shower  of  clubs, 
stones  and  brickbats  at  the  soldiers,  which  they 
returned  with  a  galling  fire.  Attucks  was  the 
first  to  fall,  being    conspicuous    on  account  of  his 


I20  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

height,  which  was  six  feet  and  two  inches,  and  the 
still  more  important  fact  that  he  was  in  advance 
of  his  men.  Two  others,  Samuel  Gray  and  Jonas 
Caldwell, were  killed,  while  Samuel  Maverick  and 
Patrick  Carr,  an  Irishman,  were  mortally  wounded. 
Attucks  and  Caldwell  were  buried  from  Faneuil 
Hall,  afterwards  called  the  "Cradle  of  Liberty," 
the  other  two  from  their  homes,  but  all  four  in  one 
common  grave,  with  the  following  epitaph  on  their 
monument. 

"Long  as  in  freedom's  cause  the  wise  contend. 
Dear  to  your  country  shall  your  fame  extend, 
While  to  the  world  the  lettered  stone  shall  tell, 
Where  Caldwell,  Attucks,  Gray  and  Maverick  fell." 

Crispus  Attucks  was  a  man  of  some  learning, 
and  sometime  before  his  tragic  death  indited  the 
following  letter  to  the  Tory  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts: 

"To  Thomas  Hutchinson: — You  will  hear  from 
us  with  astonishment.  You  ought  to  hear  from 
us  with  horror.  You  are  chargeable  before  God 
and  man  with  our  blood.  The  soldiers  were  but 
passive  instruments,  were  machines;  neither  moral 
nor  voluntary  agents  in  our  destruction,  more  than 
the  leaden  pellets  with  which  we  were  wounded. 
You  were  a  free  agent.  You  acted  coolly,  de- 
liberately, with  all  that  premeditated  malice,  not 
against  us  in  particular,  but  against  the  people  in 
general,  which,  in  the  sight  of  the  law,  is  an  in- 
gredient in  the  composition  of  murder.  You  will 
hear  further  from  us  hereafter. 

"Crispus  Attucks." 

And  he  did  hear,  and  the  world  has  heard  of 
this    liberty-loving  hero  and  patriot.      For  by  his 


A  NEW  CENTURY  121 

death  and  that  of  his  fellow  patriots  the  torch  of 
liberty  was  kindled  in  Boston  never  to  be  extin- 
guished. 

Every  schoolboy  has  read  of  Major  Pitcairn, 
who  commanded  the  British  regulars  in  the  fight 
at  Lexington  and  Concord,  April  19,  1775,  shout- 
ing to  the  militia:  "Disperse, you  rebels;  lay  down 
your  arms  and  disperse!"  And  when  they  stood 
their  ground,  how  he  ordered  his  men  to  fire, 
which  command  they  obeyed,  killing  seven  of  the 
patriots,  the  first  martyrs  of  the  Revolution.  But 
it  is  not  as  well  known  that  one  of  those  who  fell 
that  day  was  a  Negro;  and  that  his  death  and 
that  of  his  fellow  martyrs  was  avenged  by  another 
Negro,  the  brave  Peter  Salem,  who  killed  Major 
Pitcairn  while  leading  his  men  in  the  charge  at  the 
battle  of    Bunker  Hill. 

This  Peter  Salem  was  born  and  lived  at  Farm- 
ington,  Massachusetts,  and  was  probably  a  slave 
until  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution.  He  served 
faithfully  throughout  the  entire  war. 

There  were  quite  a  number  of  the  sons  of  Africa 
fighting  side  by  side  with  their  countrymen  of  the 
white  race  at  Bunker  Hill,  several  of  whom  were 
conspicuous  for  their  bravery,  among  them  Salem 
Poor,  Titus  Coburn, Alexander  Ames,Barzilai  Lew, 
and  Cato  Howe,  each  of  whom  received  a  pension. 
This  fact  is  established  by  the  painting  of  Colonel 
Trumbull,  who  witnessed  this  battle  from  Roxbury 
and  reproduced  it  upon  canvas  in  1786.  He  re- 
produced several  Negroes  in  the  front  ranks  fight- 
ing valiantly,  with  visible  results.  Indeed,  as 
Henry  Wilson  stated,  "it  is  hardly  too  much  to 
say  that  some  of  the  most  heroic  deeds  of  the  war 


122  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

of  Independence  were  performed  by  black  men." 
The  following  incident  is  a  case  in  point.  When 
Major  General  Prescott  commanded  the  British 
troops  at  Newport,  Colonel  Barton,  with  a  black 
soldier  named  Prince,  determined  to  capture  him; 
and  considering  the  fact  that  he  was  surrounded 
by  his  guard,  with  a  large  number  of  British  sol- 
diers quartered  near,  together  with  a  fleet  of  ships, 
it  was  a  remarkably  successful  stratagem.  In  com- 
pany with  "Black  Prince,"  several  other  Negroes, 
and  a  detachment  of  the  militia.  Colonel  Barton  one 
dark  night  started  in  boats  from  a  house  about  five 
miles  above  Newport.  Muffling  the  oars,  and 
avoiding  the  ships,  they  came  on  as  noiselessly  as 
possible,  landing  a  short  distance  from  the  hotel, 
where  he  knew  General  Prescott  had  established 
his  headquarters.  It  was  arranged  that  Colonel 
Barton  should  take  the  lead,  followed  by  Prince 
a  short  distance  behind,  while  some  of  the  other 
men   brought    up   the    rear. 

When  the  Colonel  drew  near  the  hotel, 
the  sentinel  presented  his  gun  and  challenged 
him,  but  he  continued  to  advance,  throwing 
the  sentinel  off  his  guard  by  talking  about 
rebel  prisoners,  and  denouncing  the  rebels  in 
general.  Again  the  sentinel  demanded  the  pass- 
word; he  replied  that  he  did  not  have  the  pass- 
word, but  was  loyal  to  his  country.  By  this 
time  he  was  near  the  sentinel,  when,  suddenly  seiz- 
mg  his  gun, he  struck  it  to  one  side  and  wrenched 
it  from  his  hand.  Prince  now  seized  the  soldier 
in  his  vice-like  grip,  and  having  been  bound  and 
gagged  he  was  handed  over  to  the  other  men  who 
had  come  up. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  123 

The  Colonel  and  Prince  now  drew  their  weapons 
and  rushed  into  the  hotel  office,  where  they  met 
the  landlord  and  demanded  that  he  should  show 
them  General  Prescott's  room;  heat  first  refused, 
but  being  threatened  with  instar.t  death,  he  pointed 
to  the  room  above.  The  Colonel  and  Prince  now 
hurried  up  to  this  room,  and  finding  it  locked,  the 
brave  Negro  burst  in  the  door  with  his  head,  and 
seized  General  Prescott  in  bed.  Seeing  that  re- 
sistance was  useless  and  knowing  that  the  slight- 
est outcry  meant  death,  he  surrendered  to  his 
captors,  was  soon  in  the  boat  and  conveyed  within 
the  American  lines.  He  was  afterwards  exchanged 
for  General  Lee,  an  American  officer  of  equal 
rank. 

George  W.  Williams,  the  leading  colored  his- 
torian, estimates  from  official  sources  that  there 
were  not  less  than  three  thousand  colored  soldiers 
in  the  revolution,  including  Negro  soldiers  from 
every  Northern  colony,  scattered  throughout  the 
white  regiments;  while  Rhode  Island  raised  a 
colored  regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Chris- 
topher Green,  and  Connecticut  raised  a  black  bat- 
talion of  soldiers  commanded  in  part  by  Colonel 
David  Humphrey.  But,  as  usual,  Little  Rhode  Island 
was  the  most  consistent  of  the  thirteen  colonies; 
she  first  made  freemen  of  her  black  sons  before 
permitting  them  to  fight  for  freedom,  and  indeed 
it  is  not  surprising  that  this  regiment  proved  to 
have  as  gallant  soldiers  as  any  in  the  Revolution. 
The  Negro  troops  turned  the  tide  in  the  battle  of 
Fhode  Island,  which  was  pronounced  by  Lafay- 
f'\e  "the  best  fought  battle  of  the  war." 

Vrnold.  in  his  history  of  the  above  named  state, 


124  2  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

thus  referred  to  it:  "It  was  in  repelling  these 
furious  onsets  that  the  newly  raised  black  legi- 
ment  under  Colonel  Green  distinguished  itself  by 
deeds  of  valor.  Posted  behind  a  thicket  in  the 
valley,  they  three  times  drove  back  the  Hessians 
who  charged  repeatedly  down  the  hill  to  dislodge 
them." 

One  admirable  trait  that  characterized  this 
black  regiment  was  devotion  to  their  officers. 
This  was  nobly  demonstrated  in  the  attack  made 
upon  the  American  lines  near  Croton  River,  on 
the  thirteenth  of  May,  1781.  Colonel  Green, 
their  gallant  commander,  was  cut  down  and  mor- 
tally wounded;  but  the  enemy's  saber  only  reached 
him  through  the  bodies  of  his  faithful  guard  of 
blacks,  who  hovered  over  him  to  defend  him  and 
fought  until  every  one  of  them  was  killed.  Leon- 
idas  and  the  Spartans  at  Thermopylae  did  no  more. 
Truly  didTristam  Burgess  say  in  Congress  in  1828, 
"No  braver  men  met  the  enemy  in  battle." 

We  are  indebted  to  William  C.  Nell's  work  on 
Colored  Patriots  of  the  American  Revolution,  for 
valuable  information,  including  the  following  ad- 
dress, which  was  delivered  in  1842,  before  the 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Anti-Slavery 
Society,  at  Francestown,  New  Hampshire,  by  Dr. 
Harris,  a  Revolutionary  veteran.  It  is  of  great 
interest,  because  it  is  an  eye-witness  describing 
what  he  had  actually  seen.  Said  he,  after  giving 
some  of  his  own  exploits:  "There  was  a  black  regi- 
ment, yes,  a  regiment  of  Negroes,  fighting  for  our 
liberty  and  independence — not  a  white  man  among 
them  but  the  officers — stationed  at  what  was  called 
a    flanking    position,  that    is,  upon   a  place  which 


A  NEW  CENTURY  125 

the  enemy  must  pass  in  order  to  come  round  in 
our  rear,  to  drive  us  from  the  fort.  This  pass 
was  everything,  both  to  the  enemy  and  us.  Had 
the  colored  soldiers  given  way  before  the  enemy 
or  been  unfaithful,  all  would  have  been  lost. 

"Three  times  in  succession  were  they  attacked, 
with  most  desperate  valor  and  fury,  by  well  dis- 
ciplined and  veteran  troops,  and  three  times  did 
they  successfully  repel  the  assault,  and  thus  pre- 
served our  army  from  capture.  They  fought 
through  the  war.  They  were  brave,  hardy  troops. 
They  helped  to  gain  our  liberty  and  independence. 

"Now,  the  war  is  over,  our  freedom  is  gained — 
what  is  to  be  done  with  these  colored  soldiers, 
who  have  shed  their  best  blood  in  its  defense? 
Must  they  be  sent  off  out  of  the  country,  because 
they  are  black?  Or  must  they  be  sent  back  into 
slavery,  now  they  have  risked  their  lives  and  shed 
their  blood  to  secure  the  freedom  of  their  masters? 
I  ask,  what  became  of  these  noble  colored 
soldiers?  Many  of  them,  I  fear,  were  taken  back 
to  the  South,  and  doomed  to  the  fetter  and  the 
chain. 

"And  why  is  it  that  the  colored  inhabitants  of 
our  nation,  born  in  this  country,  and  entitled  to 
ail  the  rights  of  freedom,  are  held  in  slavery? 
Why,  but  because  they  are  black!  I  have  often 
thought  that,  should  God  see  fit,  by  a  miracle, 
to  change  their  color,  straighten  their  hair,  and 
give  their  features  and  complexion  the  appearance 
of  the  whites,  slavery  would  not  continue  a  year. 
No,  you  would  then  go  and  abolish  it  with  the 
sword,  if  it  were  not  speedily  done  without.  But 
is  it  a  suitable  cause  for    making  men    slaves  be- 


126  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

cause  God  has  given    them    such  color,  such  hair 
and  such  features  as  he  saw  fit?" 

Simon  Lee,  the  grandfather  of  William  Wells 
Brown,  on  his  mother's  side,  was  a  slave  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  served  in  the  Revolution;  although 
honorably  discharged  with  the  other  Virginia 
troops,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  sent  back 
to  his  master,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  toiling  on  a  tobacco  plantation.  Such 
is  the  injustice  toward  the  colored  American,  that, 
after  serving  in  his  country's  struggle  for  freedom 
he  is  doomed  to  fill  the  grave  of  a  slave! 

La  Fayette,  in  his  letter  to  Clarkson,  said:  "I 
would  never  have  drawn  my  sword  in  the  cause  of 
America,  if  I  could  have  conceived  that  thereby  I 
was  founding  a  land  of  slavery." 

The  following  incident  from  Theodore  Parker 
shows  that  other  black  veterans  of  the  Revolution 
were  remanded  to  slavery,  and  doubtless  there 
were  many  such  cases.  A  sea-captain  of  Massa- 
chusetts who  commanded  a  small  brig,  which 
plied  between  Carolina  and  the  Gulf  States,  said 
to  Mr.  Parker,  "One  day  at  Charleston  a  man 
came  and  brought  to  me  an  old  Negro  slave. 
He  was  very  old  and  had  fought  in  the  Revolution, 
and  had  been  much  distinguished  for  bravery  and 
other  soldierly  qualities.  If  he  had  not  been  a 
Negro,  he  would  have  become  a  captain  at  least, 
perhaps  a  colonel.  But  in  his  old  age,  his  master 
found  no  use  for  him,  and  said  he  could  not  afford 
to  keep  him.  He  asked  me  to  take  the  Revolu- 
tionary soldier  and  carry  him  South  and  sell  him, 
I  carried  him  to  Mobile  and  tried  to  get  as  good 
and  kind  a  master  for  him  as  I  could,  for  I  didn't 


A  NEW  CENTURY  127 

like  to  sell  a  man  who  had  fought  for  his  country. 

"I  sold  the  old  Revolutionary  veteran  for  a  hun- 
dred dollars  to  a  citizen  of  Mobile,  who  raised 
poultry, and  he  set  him  to  tend  a  hen  coop."  Mr. 
Parker  remarked  that  he  supposed  the  South 
Carolina  master,  "a  true  gentleman,"  drew  the 
pension  till  the  soldier  died.  Then  turning  to  the 
sea  captain,  whom  he  knew  to  be  an  anti-slavery 
man,  he  asked:  "How  could  you  do  such  a  thing?" 
**If  I  had  not  done  it,"  he  replied,  "I  never  could 
have  received  another  bale  of  cotton,  nor  hogs- 
head of  sugar,  nor  anything  to  carry  from  or  to 
any  Southern  port." 

Theodore  Parker  also  stated  that  in  his  day 
workmen,  while  excavating  for  the  foundations  of 
the  large  dry  goods  stores  of  New  York  city,  un- 
earthed a  large  number  of  human  skeletons.  On 
investigation  they  proved  to  be  the  bones  of  colored 
American  soldiers,  who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Long 
Island  in  1776.  They  were  carted  off  to  fill  up  a 
chasm,  and  thrown  on  the  beach  to  make  the 
foundations  of  warehouses,  like  any  other  rubbish 
of  the  city.  Had  they  been  white  men  they  would 
have  been  buried  anew,  but  as  they  were  only 
Negroes  who  had  died  for  their  own  and  their 
masters'   country,  this  was  their  fate. 

Hon.  Calvin  Goddard,  of  Connecticut,  states 
that  he  was  instrumental  in  securing,  under  Act  of 
1 818,  the  pensions  of  nineteen  colored  soldiers.  "I 
cannot,"  he  says,  "refrain  from  mentioning  one 
black  man.  Primus  Babcock,  who  proudly  pre- 
sented to  me  an  honorable  discharge  from  service 
during  the  war,  dated  at  the  close  of  it,  wholly  in 
the  handwriting  of  George  Washington.   Nor  can  I 


128  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

forget  the  expression  of  his  feelings  when  in- 
formed, after  his  discharge  had  been  sent  to  the 
War  Department,  that  it  could  not  be  returned. 
At  his  request  it  was  written  for,  as  he  seemed  in- 
clined to  spurn  the  pension  and  reclaim  the  dis- 
charge." 

There  is  a  pathetic  anecdote  told  of  Baron 
Steuben,  at  the  time  the  American  army  disbanded. 
"A  black  soldier  with  his  wounds  unhealed,  utterly 
destitute,  stood  on  the  wharf  just  as  a  vessel 
bound  for  his  distant  home  was  getting  under  way. 
The  poor  fellow  gazed  at  the  vessel  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  and  gave  himself  up  to  utter  despair. 
The  warm-hearted  foreigner  noticed  his  emotions, 
and  inquiring  into  the  cause  of  it,  took  his  last 
dollar  from  his  purse  and  gave  it  to  him,  while 
tears  of  sympathy  trickled  down  his  cheeks.  Over- 
whelmed with  gratitude,  the  poor  wounded  soldier 
hailed  the  ship  and  was  received  on  board.  As  it 
moved  out  of  the  wharf  he  cried  back  to  his  noble 
friend  on  shore,  *God  Almighty  bless  you,  Master 
Baron.'" 

We  have  already  stated  that  Connecticut  raised 
a  battalion  of  colored  soldiers,  who  were  among 
the  bravest  in  the  American  army.  Some  of  them 
even  immortalized  their  names  as  heroes  "who 
were  not  born  to  die,"  as  the  following  letter  from 
Parker  Pillsbury  of  New  Hampshire, to  William  C. 
Nell,  clearly  indicates:  "The  names  of  the  two 
brave  men  of  color  who  fell  with  Ledyard  at  the 
storming  of  Fort  Griswold,  were  Lambo  Latham 
and  Jordan  Freeman.  All  the  names  of  the  slain 
at  that  time,  are  inscribed  on  a  marble  tabl'^^ 
wrought  into  the  monument — the    names  of  the 


CHAS.    CHESNUT, 

Of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Author  of  "The  Conjure  Woman,"  "Life 

of  Frederick  Douglass,"  and  Volume  of  Short  Stories. 


129 


I30  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

colored  soldiers  last,  and  not  only  last,  but  a 
blank  space  is  left  between  them  and  the  whites; 
in  genuine  keeping  with  the  "Negro  Pew  distinc- 
tion— setting  them  not  only  below  all  the  others, 
but  by  themselves,  even  after  that.  And  it  is 
difficult  to  say  why.  They  were  not  last  in  the 
fight. 

"When  Major  Montgomery,  one  of  the  leaders  in 
the  expedition  against  the  Americans,  was  lifted 
upon  the  walls  of  the  fort  by  his  soldiers,  flourish- 
ing his  sword  and  calling  on  them  to  follow  him, 
Jordan  Freeman  received  him  on  the  point  of  a 
pike,  and  pinned  him  dead  to  the  earth  (see 
Historical  Collectionsof  Connecticut) ;  and  the  name 
of  Jordan  Freeman  stands  away  down  last  on  the 
list  of  heroes — perhaps  the  greatest  hero  of  them 
all."  But  what  of  the  other  black  hero  who  was 
with  him.^  We  will  let  a  nephew  of  feis,  William 
Anderson,  of  New  London,  Connecticut,  tell  the 
story. 

"September  6th,  1781,  New  London  was  taken 
by  the  British,  under  the  command  of  that  arch 
traitor,  Benedict  Arnold.  The  small  band  com- 
posing the  garrison  retreated  to  the  fort  opposite, 
in  the  town  of  Groton,  and  there  resolved  either 
to  gain  a  victory  or  die  for  their  country.  The 
latter  pledge  was  faithfuiiy  redeemed  and  by  none 
more  gallantly  than  the  two  colored  men;  and  if 
the  survivors  of  that  day's  carnage  tell  truly,  they 
fought  like  tigers  and  were  butchered  after  the 
gates  were  burst  open.  One  of  these  men  was  the 
brother  of  my  grandmother,  by  the  name  of  Lam- 
bert,but  called  Lambo,  since  chiseled  on  the  marble 
monument  by  the  American  classic  appellation  of 


A  NEW  CENTURY  131 

*Sambo.'     The  name  of  the  other  black  man  was 
Jordan  Freeman. 

"Lambert  was  living  with  a  gentleman  in  Groton 
by  the  name  of  Latham;  so  of  course  he  was  called 
Lambert  Latham.  Mr.  Latham  and  Lambert,  on 
the  day  of  the  massacre,  were  working  in  a  field 
at  a  distance  from  the  house.  On  hearing  the 
alarm  upon  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  Mr.  Latham 
started  for  home,  leaving  Lambert  to  drive  the 
oxen  up  to  the  house.  On  arriving  at  the  house, 
Lambert  was  told  that  Mr.  Latham  had  gone  up 
to  the  fort.  Unyoking  the  oxen  from  the  wagon 
and  making  all  secure,  he  started  for  the  point  of 
defense,  where  he  arrived  before  the  British  began 
the  attack. 

"The  assault  on  the  part  of  the  British  was  a 
deadly  one,  and  manifestly  resisted  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, even  to  the  clubbing  of  their  muskets  after 
their  ammunition  was  expended;  but  finally  the 
little  garrison  of  brave  defenders  was  reduced  to 
a  handful,  and  could  hold  out  no  longer. 

"On  the  entrance  of  the  enemy,  the  British 
officer  inquired,  'Who  commands  this  fort.?'  The 
gallant  Ledyard  replied,  'I  once  did;  you  do  now,' 
— at  the  same  time  handing  him  his  sword,  which 
was  seized,  and  immediately  run  through  his  body 
to  the  hilt  by  the  officer.  This  was  the  commence- 
ment of  an  unparalleled  slaughter. 

"Lambert, being  near  Colonel  Ledyard  when  he 
was  slain,  retaliated  upon  the  officer  by  thrusting 
his  bayonet  through  his  body.  Lambert  in  re- 
turn received  from  the  enemy  thirty-three  bayonet 
wounds,  and  thus  fell,  nobly  avenging  the  death 
of  his  commander.     These  facts  were  given  me  on 


132  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  spot,  at  the  time  of  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone, by  two  veterans  who  were  present  at  the 
battle." 

We  learn  from  Kent's  Commentary  that  the 
Legislature  of  New  York  passed  an  Act  during 
the  Revolutionary  War  granting  freedom  to  all 
slaves  who  should  serve  in  the  army  for  three 
years,  or  until  regularly  discharged. 

The  Hartford  Review  for  September,  1839, 
gives  the  following  account  of  a  colored  man  by 
the  name  of  Hamet,  living  at  that  time  in  Middle- 
town,  Connecticut,  who  was  formerly  owned  by 
Washington: — "Hamet  is,  according  to  his  own 
account,  nearly  one  hundred  years  old.  He  draws 
a  pension  for  his  services  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  manufactures  toy  drums  for  his  support.  He 
has  a  white  wife  and  one  child.  His  hair  is  white 
with  age  and  hangs  matted  together  in  masses  over 
his  shoulders.  He  retains  a  perfect  recollection 
of  his  Massa  and  Missus  Washington,  and  has 
several  mementoes  of  them.  Among  these  there 
is  a  lock  of  the  General's  hair,  and  his  service 
sword.  He  converses  in  three  or  four  different 
languages, — the  French,  Spanish  and  German,  be- 
sides his  native  African  tongue." 

Another  black  veteran,  Oliver  Cromwell,  served 
six  years  and  nine  months  under  Washington's 
immediate  command,  and  received  an  honorable 
discharge  in  Washington's  own  handwriting,  of 
which  he  was  very  proud.  He  received  a  pension 
of  ninety-six  dollars  annually.  Was  in  the  battles 
of  Trenton,  Princeton,  Brandywine,  Monmouth 
and  Yorktown,  at  which  place  he  claims  to  have 
seen  the  last  man  killed.   He  enlisted  in  a  company 


A  NEW  CENTURY  133 

commanded  by  Captain  Lowery,  attached  to  the 
second  New  Jersey  Regiment,  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Israel  Shreve.  He  brought  up  seven 
sons  and  seven  daughters,  who  reached  the  age  of 
maturity.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  natural  ability 
— never  using  tobacco  or  liquor  in  any  form.  He 
was  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  age  when  he 
died  at  his  native  town,  Columbus,  New  Jersey, 
January  24,   1853. 

Another  Revolutionary  hero,  Charles  Bowles, 
was  born  in  1761,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  was 
placed  in  the  family  of  a  Tory.  But  he  was  too 
patriotic  to  be  contented  with  his  home,  and  two 
years  later  found  him  in  the  American  army  a 
servant  to  an  officer.  When  sixteen  years  of  age 
he  became  a  regular  soldier,  serving  faithfully  to 
the  end  of  the  war.  He  then  went  to  New 
Hampshire  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  obtained 
a  pension,  became  a  Baptist  preacher  of  some 
prominence, and  died  in  1843,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two. 

Rev.  Henry  F.  Harrington  wrote  an  article  on 
General  Washington  and  Primus  Hall,  body  serv- 
ant to  Colonel  Pickering,  of  Massachusetts,  which 
was  published  in  the  June  issue  of  Godey's  Lady's 
Book,   1849. 

"On  one  occasion,  the  General  was  engaged  in 
earnest  conversation  with  Colonel  Pickering  in  his 
tent,  until  after  the  night  had  fairly  set  in.  Head- 
quarters were  at  a  considerable  distance,  and 
Washington  signified  his  preference  to  stay  with 
the  Colonel  over  night,  provided  he  had  a  spare 
blanket  and  straw.  *0,  yes,'  said  Primus,  who 
was  appealed  to;  'plenty  of  straw  and  blankets- 
plenty.' 


134  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

"Upon  this  assurance, Washington  continued  his 
conference  with  the  Colonel  .until  it  was  time  to 
retire  to  rest.  Two  humble  beds  were  spread, 
side  by  side,  in  the  tent,  and  the  officers  laid 
themselves  down,  while  Primus  seemed  to  be  busy 
with  duties  that  required  his  attention  before  he 
himself  could  sleep.  He  worked  or  appeared  to 
work,  until  the  breathing  of  the  prostrate  gentle- 
men satisfied  him  that  they  were  sleeping;  and 
then  seatinghimself  upon  a  box  or  stool,  he  leaned 
his  head  on  his  hands  to  obtain  such  repose  as  so 
inconvenient  a  position  would  allow.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night  Washington  awoke.  He 
looked  about  and  descried  the  Negro  as  he  sat. 
He  gazed  at  him  awhile,  and  then  spoke.  'Pri- 
mus,' said  he,  calling;  'Primus!'  Primus  started 
up  and  rubbed  his  eyes.  'What,  General?'  said 
he. 

"Washington  rose  up  in  his  bed.  'Primus,'  said 
he,  'what  did  you  mean  by  saying  that  you  had 
blankets  and  straw  enough.?  Here  you  have  given 
up  your  blanket  and  straw  to  me,  that  I  may 
sleep  comfortably,  while  you  are  obliged  to  sit 
through  the  night.'  'It's  nothing,  General,'  said 
Primus.  'It's  nothing.  I  am  well  enough.  Don't 
trouble  yourself  about  mie,  General,  but  go  to  sleep 
again.      No  matter  about  me,  I  sleep  very  good.' 

"'But  it  is  matter — it  is  matter,'  said  Washing- 
ton, earnestly.  'I  cannot  do  it, Primus.  If  either 
is  to  sit  up,  I  will.  But  I  think  there  is  no  need 
of  either  sitting  up.  The  blanket  is  wide  enough 
for  two.  Come  and  lie  down  here  with  me.'  'Oh, 
no!*  said  Primus,  starting,  and  protesting  against 
the    proposition.      'No;  let  me  sit   here.      I'll   do 


A  NEW  CENTURY  i35 

very  well  on  the  stool.'  *I  say,  come  and  lie  down 
here!'  said  Washington  authoritatively.  'There  is 
room  for  both,  and  I  insist  upon  it!'  He  threw 
open  the  blanket  as  he  spoke,  and  moved  to  one 
side  of  the  straw.  Primus  professed  to  have  been 
exceedingly  shocked  at  the  idea  of  lying  under 
the  same  covering  with  the  commander-in-chief, 
but  his  tone  was  so  resolute  and  determined  that 
he  could  not  hesitate.  He  prepared  himself, there- 
fore, and  laid  himself  down  by  Washington;  and 
on  the  same  straw,  and  under  the  same  blanket, 
the  General  and  the  Negro  servant  slept  until 
morning." 

Seymour  Burr  lived  in  Connecticut;  he  was  a 
slave  to  a  brother  of  Colonel  Aaron  Burr,  from 
whom  he  received  his  name.  His  master  treated 
him  kindly,  but  the  slave  sighed  for  freedom  and 
was  resolved,  if  possible,  to  obtain  it.  Persuading 
a  number  of  other  slaves  to  go  with  him,  they 
seized  a  boat,  intending  to  join  the  British  army, 
that  by  so  doing  they  might  become  freemen. 
Nevertheless  their  owners  pursued  and  overtook 
them,  and  being  heavily  armed  the  slaves  surren- 
dered. 

Mr.  Burr  did  not  punish  Seymour,  but  asked 
him  why  he  had  left  such  a  kind  master.  The 
Negro  replied  that  he  wanted  his  Hberty.  The 
master  consented  that  the  Negro  should  join  the 
American  army,  on  condition  that  the  master 
should  receive  the  bounty  money  and  the  slave  be 
free  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Accordingly  he  en- 
listed  in  the  seventh  regiment,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Brooks  of  Medford. 

He  was  with  his  company  in   the  siege  of  Fori 


136  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Catskill,  where  they  endured  great  suffering  from 
cold  and  starvation,  until  at  last  relieved  by  the 
arrival  of  General  Washington,  who  was  overjoyed 
on  finding  them  unexpectedly  alive,  and  holding 
the  fort.. 

He  served  faithfully  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
receiving  a  pension.  He  afterwards  married  an 
Indian  woman  and  estabHshed  a  home  at  Canton, 
Massachusetts.  His  wife  survived  him,  dying  in 
1852,  having    lived  more    than  five    score  years. 

Jeremy  Jonah  (colored)  also  served  valiantly  in 
the  same  Regiment,  afterwards  obtaining  a  pen- 
sion. He  lived  near  Seymour  Burr,  and  the  two 
old  comrades  often  made  a  night  of  it,  after  the 
manner  of  veterans,  fighting  their  battles  over 
again. 

On  August  16,  1777,  the  "Green  Mountain 
Boys,"  aided  by  troops  from  New  Hampshire  and 
a  few  from  Massachusetts, commanded  by  General 
Stark,  captured  the  left  wing  of  the  British  army 
near  Bennington.  When  the  prisoners,  to  the 
number  of  between  seven  and  eight  hundred,  were 
collected  to  be  tied  on  either  side  of  a  rope,  it 
was  found  to  be  too  short.  The  General  called 
for  more,  but  there  was  none  at  hand.  In  this 
emergency  the  patriotic  wife  of  Hon.  Moses  Rob- 
inson stepped  forward  and  said:  "General,  I 
will  take  down  the  last  bedstead  in  the  house  and 
present  the  rope  to  you  on  one  condition.  When 
the  prisoners  are  all  tied  to  the  rope,  you  shall 
permit  my  Negro  man  to  harness  up  my  old  mare 
and  hitch  the  rope  to  the  whiffietree,  mount  the 
mare,  and  conduct  the  British  and  Tory  prisoners 
out  of  town."  The  General  willingly  accepted  Mrs. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  137- 

Robinson's  proposition.  The  Negro  mounted  the 
mare,  grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  and  thus  con^ 
ducted  the  left  wing  of  the  British  army  into  Mas- 
sachusetts, on  their  road  to  Boston. 

The  following  instance  of  Negro  wit  is  often 
told.  After  Cornwallis  surrendered  at  York- 
town,  an  acquaintance  of  his,  a  colored  soldier, 
stepped  up  to  him  quite  elated,  and  remarked: 
"You  used  to  be  called  Cornwallis,  but  it  is  Corn- 
wallis no  longer;  it  must  now  be  Cobwallis,  for 
General  Washington  has  shelled  off  all  the  corn." 

The  gallant  historian  is  proud  to  record  the  he- 
roic deed  of  Molly  Pitcher,  whose  husband  was 
killed  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  and  she  took 
his  place  at  the  cannon,  until  the  end  of  that  bat- 
tle. But  here  is  the  record  of  a  black  heroine  who 
faithfully  discharged  all  the  duties  of  a  soldier  for 
nearly  a  year  and  a  half. 

The  following  extract  is  a  copy  of  one  of  the 
Resolutions  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
during  the  session  of  1 791-2: — "XXIII.  Resolu- 
tion on  the  petition  of  Deborah  Gannett,  granting 
her  ;^34  for  services  rendered  in  the  Continental 
army. 

"On  the  petition  of  Deborah  Gannett,  praying 
for  compensation  for  services  performed  in  the 
late  army  of  the  United  States.  Whereas,  it  ap- 
pears to  this  Court  that  the  said  Deborah  Gannett 
enlisted  under  the  name  of  Robert  Shurtliff  in 
Captain  Webb's  company  in  the  4th  Massachusetts 
Regiment,  on  May  20th,  1782,  and  did  actually 
perform  the  duty  of  a  soldier,  in  the  late  army  of 
the  United  States,  to  the  23rd  day  of  October, 
1783,  for  which  she  has    received    no    compensa- 


138  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

tion;  and  whereas  it  further  appears  that  the  said 
Deborah  Gannett  exhibited  an  extraordinary  in- 
stance of  female  heroism,  by  discharging  the  duties 
of  a  faithful,  gallant  soldier,  and  at  the  same  time 
preserving  the  virtue  and  chastity  of  her  sex  unsus- 
pected and  unblemished,  and  was  discharged  from 
the  service  with  a  fair  and  honorable  cbaractei  • 
therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  treasurer  of  this 
commonwealth  be,  and  hereby  is,  directed  to  issue 
his  note  to  the  said  Deborah  for  the  sum  of  thirty- 
four  pounds,  bearing  interest  from  October  23, 
1788." 

Prince  Richards  was  a  pensioned  Revolutionary 
veteran,  of  East  Bridgewater.  When  a  slave  he 
learned  to  write  with  a  charred  stick,  thus  show- 
ing a  burning  desire  for  learning,  even  against  the 
command  of  his  master,  and  perhaps,  the  law  of 
the  state. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  John  Hancock  pre- 
sented the  colored  company  called  "The  Bucks" 
with  a  beautiful  and  appropriate  banner,  bearing 
his  initials,  as  a  token  of  his  appreciation  of  their 
courage  and  patriotism  during  the  struggle.  "The 
•  Bucks,"  under  command  of  Colonel  Middleton, 
marched  through  Boston,  halting  in  front  of  the 
Hancock  mansion  on  Beach  Street,  where  the 
Governor  and  his  son  united  in  presenting  the 
banner. 

One  of.  the  most  brilliant  exploits  of  the  Revo- 
lution was  the  capture  of  Stony  Point  by  Mad 
Anthony  Wayne.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  countersign  and  password,  "The  Fort 
is  Ours,"  was  obtained  by  the  shrewdness  of  a 
patriotic  Negro  who   was  in   the    habit   oC  selling 


A  NEW  CENTURY  139 

strawberries  to  the  British.  This  same  Negro 
guided  the  troops  through  the  inky  darkness,  to  the 
causeway  over  the  marsh,  around  the  foot  of  the 
hill.  Then  going  in  advance  up  the  hill,  he  gave 
the  countersign  to  the  sentinel  and  engaged  him 
in  a  friendly  conversation,  always  keeping  his 
back  down  the  hill,  until  he  was  suddenly  seized 
from  behind  and  gagged;  the  rest  was  easy. 

The  historian  will  tell  us  that  Washington 
planned,  and  Wayne  executed  this  glorious  exploit; 
but  we  maintain  that  but  for  this  nameless  black 
hero,  the  impregnable  Stony  Point  could  not  have 
been  taken. 

We  also  read  of  the  brig  on  which  Jack  Grove 
(colored)was  steward;  while  sailing  from  the  West 
Indies  to  Portland  in  18 12,  it  was  captured  by  a 
French  vessel,  whose  commander  placed  a  guard 
on  board.  Jack  urged  his  commander  to  make  an 
effort  to  retake  the  ship,  but  the  captain  saw  no 
hope.  Again  he  urged  him,  saying:  "Captain 
McLellan,  I  can  take  her  myself  if  you  will  only 
let  me  go  ahead  "  But  the  captain  was  rathe*- 
cowardly  and  checked  him,  warning  him  not  to 
hint  such  a  thing,  as  there  was  danger  in  it.  But 
Jack,  disappointed  and  disgusted  with  him,  though, 
not  daunted,  rallied  the  men  on  his  own  hook. 
Captain  McLellan  and  the  rest,  inspired  by  his  ex- 
ample of  courage  and  leadership,  joined  them,  and 
the  attempt  resulted  in  victory.  They  weighed 
anchor  and  took  the  vessel  into  Portland.  The 
owner  of  the  brig  offered  Jack  fifty  hogsheads  of 
molasses  for  his  brave  deed;  but  Jack  demanded 
one  half  of  the  brig,  which  being  denied,  he  em- 
ployed two  Boston  lawyers  and  brought  suit.    We 


I40  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

were  unable    to    learn  how  the  case    terminated. 

The  artist  has  vied  with  the  historian  in  pro- 
claiming the  fact  that  the  black  men  were  among 
the  bravest  of  the  brave,  with  Perry  in  the  squad- 
ron fight  of  Lake  Erie,  and  Jackson  at  New  Or- 
leans. What  student  of  history  has  not  read  Jack- 
son's eloquent  tribute  to  his  brave  colored  fellow 
soldiers,  after  that  glorious  victory  which  they 
helped  him  to  gain? 

In  the  Chicago  Tribune  of  February  26,  1894, 
Simon  Young  said  in  reply  to  the  proposition  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor  to  deport  the  Negroes  to 
Africa:  "We  are  part  and  parcel  of  this  country. 
Why, only  to-day  we  buried  from  No.  3331  Dear- 
born Street  old  Captain  Jackson,  a  Mexican  war 
veteran,  whose  father  fought  in  the  war  of  18 12, 
and  his  grandfather  worked  a  musket  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary set-to.  Our  blood  and  brawn  and  brain 
helped  to  make  this  country.  This  is  our  home, 
and  we're  going  to  stay  at  home."  Rev.  Peter 
Williams  of  New  York  said  on  one  occasion:  "We 
are  natives  of  this  land;  we  ask  only  to  be  treated 
as  well  as  foreigners.  Not  a  few  of  our  fathers 
suffered  and  bled  to  purchase  its  independence; 
we  ask  only  to  be  treated  as  well  as  those  who 
fought  against  it.  We  have  toiled  to  cultivate  it, 
and  raise  it  to  its  present  prosperous  condition; 
we  ask  only  to  share  equal  privileges  with  those 
who  come  from  distant  lands  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of 
our  labor." 

Let  us  smother  all  the  wrongs  we  have  endured. 
Let  us  forget  the  past.  If  we  are  brethren  let 
us  yield  ourselves  to  charity,  and  let  us  concede 
the  fact  that  many  times  have  our  dusky  brothers 


A  NEW  CENTURY  141 

shown  their  power,  their  energy,  their  skill,  in 
behalf  of  their  friends,  their  masters,  their  country  ! 
Can  we  be  so  thoughtless — yea,  so  heartless  as  to 
begrudge  them  a  place,  a  home  in  this  broad  land 
of  ours  for  which  they  have  fought,  bled,  and 
many  of  them  died  to  save? 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SLAVERY  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  AND 
DECLARATION  OF  INDE- 
PENDENCE. 


The  noble  heroes  and  patriots  who  survived 
the  Revolutionary  struggle,  in  which  one  of  the 
main  issues  was  "equal  right  to  all  and  exclusive 
privileges  to  none,"  must  have  been  impressed 
with  the  inconsistency  of  holding  their  fellow  men 
in  cruel  bondage.  Certain  it  is  Vermont  separated 
from  New  York  in  1777,  and  in  framing  her  state 
constitution  she  forever  prohibited  slavery.  How- 
ever, Pennsylvania,  through  the  influence  of  the 
Quakers,  was  the  first  of  the  original  thirteen  colo- 
nies to  abolish  the  system,  which  she  did  by  adopt- 
ing a  measure  of  gradual  emancipation  in  1780. 
A  little  later  in  the  same  year  Massachusetts  abol- 
ished slavery  by  her  state   constitution. 

In  1784  Jefferson  proposed  an  ordinance  to  con 
gress,  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  western  countr  . 
above  the  parallel  of  31  north  latitude,   to  go  int^ 

142 


'-■ii 


DR.  A.  R.  ABBOTT, 

Prominent  Physician  of  Toronto,  Ont..  and  One  o!  the  Eight 

Colored     Surgeons     Commissioned     as     Surgeon    in 

the  United  States  Army  by  President  Lincoln. 


143 


144  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

effect  after  the  year  1800.  To  his  infinite  regret 
and  lasting  sorrow,  this  was  lost  by  one  vote. 
This  great  statesman  afterwards  wrote  concerning 
it:  "The  voice  of  a  single  individual  would  have 
prevented  this  abominable  crime.  Heaven  will  not 
always  be  silent;  the  friends  to  the  rights  of  hu- 
man nature  will  in  the  end  prevail." 

When  the  constitution  was  adopted,  the  leading 
question  considered  was,  how  to  obtain  a  harmo- 
nious union  of  all  the  colonies;  how  to  fuse  these 
distinct  governments,  with  different  interests,  into 
one  strong  government.  Weakened  as  they  were 
by  the  long  and  bloody  war  with  the  Mother  Coun- 
try; bankrupt  and  almost  discouraged,  they  were 
willing  for  harmony  and  unity  on  almost  any 
terms.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  framers  of  the 
constitution  compromising  and  using  ambiguous 
language  in  regard  to  slavery  right  in  the  consti- 
tution itself. 

The  words  slave,  slavery,  or  Negro,  are  syste- 
matically avoided,  and  they  are  spoken  of  as  "per- 
sons bound  to  service,"  and  "three-fifths  of  all 
other  persons."  But  it  nowhere  says  how  bound, 
and  an  honest  constitutional  judge  construing  this 
clause  to  harmonize  with  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence (which  preceded  and  was  in  a  sense 
the  basis  of  the  constitution),  would  certainly  have 
decided  that  "bound  to  service"  meant  in  equity, 
"bound  by  contract  to  service,"  not  forced  under 
the  lash,  without  afoy  contract,  and  for  the  entire 
benefit  of  the  so-called  master  class. 

The  framers  of  the  constitution  differed  widely 
as  to  whether  the  Negroes  should  be  regarded  as 
persons  or  property.?     It  was  finally    settled    that 


A  NEW  CENTURY  145 

they  were  neither  absolutely  the  one  nor  the  other, 

but  partook  of  both  qualities;  and  it  was  provided 
that  five  slaves  should  count  as  three  freemen, 
in  the  apportionment  for  representatives  and  for 
direct  taxation.  As  an  expounder  of  the  compro- 
mise on  this  basis  said,  the  slave  was  considered 
"as  divested  of  two-fifths  of  ^the  man."  This  is 
why  the  constitution  was  claimed  by  both  sides 
in  the  "irrepressible  conflict."  This  instrument 
was  necessarily  compromising  as  touching  slavery, 
but  we  should  be  very  charitable  in  reviewing  it, 
when  we  consider  that  an  unconditional  pro-slav- 
ery, or  anti-slavery  constitution,  would  not  have 
been  adopted  by  the  members  of  the  constitution, 
nor  ratified  by  the  different  states.  The  leadership 
of  Washington  and  the  wisdom  of  Franklin  were 
strained  to  their  utmost  before  this  question  was 
finally  settled  by  compromise, in  the  constitutional 
convention. 

Even  then,  as  might  have  been  expected,  slavery 
would  not  remain  settled,  for  while  not  strictly  in 
the  constitution,  it  was  not  expunged  from  it,  and 
proved  to  be  a  veritable  "Old  Man  of  the  Sea," 
riding  on  the  back  of  the  constitution,  seeking  to 
strangle  it,  until, drunken  with  the  wine  of  its  own 
violence, it  was  shaken  off  and  crushed  in  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion. 

Theodore  Parker  illustrates  slavery  and  the  con- 
stitution as  follows:  "There  is  an  old  story  told 
by  Hebrew  rabbis,  that  before  the  flood  there 
was  an  enormous  giant  called  Gog.  After  the  flood 
had  got  into  the  full  tide  of  successful  experiment, 
and  every  man  was  drowned  except  those  taken  into 
the  ark,  Gog  came  striding  along  after  Noah,  feel- 


146  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ing  his  way  with  a  cane,  as  long  as  a  mast  of  the 
"Great  Eastern."  The  water  had  only  come  up 
to  his  girdle.  It  was  then  over  the  hill-tops  and 
still  rising — raining  night  and  day.  The  giant  hailed 
the  Patriarch.  Noah  put  his  head  out  of  the  win- 
dow, and  said,  'Who  is  there.'"'  'It  is  I,'  said  Gog. 
'Take  us  in;  it  is  wet  outside!'  'No,'  said  Noah; 
'you're  to  big;  no  room.  Besides,  you've  a  bad 
character.  You  may  get  on  top  if  you  like,'  and 
he  closed  the  window.  'Go  to  thunder, '  said  Gog; 
•I  will  ride  after  all.'  And  he  strode  after  him, 
wading  through  the  waters;  and  mounting  on  top 
of  the  ark,  with  one  leg  over  the  larboard  and  the 
other  over  the  starboard  side,  he  steered  it  just  as 
he  pleased  and  made  it  rough  weather  inside. 

"Now  in  making  the  constitution,  we  did  not 
care  to  take  in  Slavery  in  express  terms.  It  looked 
ugly.  We  allowed  it  to  get  on  top  astride,  and 
now  it  steers  us  just  where  it  pleases."  Hence  the 
question.  Could  slavery  find  shelter  behind  the  con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  .^^  received  almost  as 
many  different  answers  as  there  were  men  at- 
tempting it.  To  this  great  question  the  abolition- 
ists, led  by  Garrison,  replied,  "Yes,  therefore 
away  with  the  constitution."  "Yes,"  replied  the 
anti-abolitionists,  "therefore  let  slavery  alone." 
"No,"  said  the  anti-slavery  Whigs,"for  the  consti- 
tution is  not  a  pro-slavery  instrument."  "No," 
said  Gerrit  Smith,  "for  slavery,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  cannot  find  a  shelter  behind  anything 
that  bears  the  name  of  law;  the  constitution  that 
offered  shelter  to  slavery  would  have  no  validity. 
The  question  whether  or  no  slavery  finds  shelter 
behind  the  constitution,  is  wanting  in  pertinency; 
there  is  no  such  question." 


A  NEW  CENTURY  147 

This  was  substantially  the  view  of  Frederick 
Douglass,  who  defended  it  against  all  gainsayers, 
with  great  boldness  and  power. 

Whatever  the  constitution  might  be,  no  one 
could  question  the  fact  that  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, the  Magna  Charta  of  American  Lib- 
erty, was  anti-slavery,  when  it  published  to  the 
world  the  following  glorious  principles:  "We 
hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men 
are  created  equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  inalienable  Rights,  that 
among  these  are  Life,  Libet'ty  and  the  pursuit  of 
Happiness,  That  to  secure  these  rights,  govern- 
ments are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

Remember  the  equality  and  liberty  were  not 
limited  to  the  white,  black  or  red  men,  for  all  were 
in  the  colonies  at  that  time,  but  it  emphatically 
says  all  men;  it  includes  all  races,  and  excludes 
none.  The  pursuit  of  happiness  was  also  guaranteed 
unto  all  men,  by  this  instrument,  but  was  there 
any  happiness  for  the  poor  souls  driven  like 
galley-slaves,  and  treated  like  beasts  of  burden? 

Moreover, we  read  that  "Governments  are  insti- 
tuted among  men,  deriving  their  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed."  When  did  the  Negro 
ever  give  his  consent,  or,  indeed,  when  was  he  ever 
consulted  as  to  how  he  should  be  governed  from 
the  time  he  was  kidnaped  by  piratical  man- 
stealers  in  Africa,  until  he  escaped  their  clutches 
at  death.? 

At  its  conclusion  we  find  this  passage:  "And 
for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm 
reliance   on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence, 


I4B  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives,  our 
Fortunes,  and  our  sacred  Honor."  In  view  of  the 
treatment  the  Negro  received,  mainly  because  he 
was  black,  this  reliance  on  the  "protection  of 
Divine  Providence"  appears  sacrilegious,  and  this 
pledge  of  "sacred  honor,"  a  farce. 

Can  it  be  that  this  palladium  of  Liberty,  penned 
by  the  immortal  Jefferson,  was  superseded  by  the 
constitution  and  thrown  aside  as  a  cast-off  gar- 
ment.? It  certainly  appears  so.  For  if  any  re- 
gard had  been  paid  to  this  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, slavery  would  not  have  cursed  the  na- 
tion a  single  year.  For  it  was  an  unmitigated 
curse,  its  advocates  being  judges.  Henry  Clay 
himself  said,  "Slavery  is  a  curse  to  the  master 
and  a  wrong  to  the  slave."  Its  cloven  foot  was 
shown  even  in  drafting  this  important  instrument. 
It  may  not  be  known  to  all  our  readers  that  part 
of  the  original  document  drawn  up  by  the  com- 
mittee consisting  of  Jefferson,  Adams,  Livingston, 
Sherman  and  Franklin,  was  rejected  and  stricken 
out  in  deference  to  slavery,  but  such  is  an  un- 
doubted historical  fact. 

The  first  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence can  be  seen  in  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  of  Philadelphia,  an  institution  founded  by 
Franklin.  It  contains  this  forcible  language: 
"He,"  (King  George  III.),  "has  waged  cruel  war 
against  human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most 
sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons  of 
a  distant  people,  who  never  offended  him,  capti- 
vating and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another 
hemisphere,  or  to  incur  a  miserable  death  in  their 
transportation  thither.    This  piratical  warfare,  the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  149 

opprobrium  of  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the 
Christian  King  of  Great  Britain.  Determined  to 
keep  open  market  where  men  should  be  bought  and 
sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  suppress- 
ing every  legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  to  re- 
strain this  execrable  commerce." 

Mr.  William  Chambers,  the  English  traveler 
and  author,  considers  this  original  draft  of  our 
Declaration  the  greatest  arch^ological  curiosity 
in  America. 

Thus  a  union  embracing  the  Southern  colonies 
could  only  be  obtained  by  withdrawing  this  scath- 
ing rebul^e,  and  prostituting  Hberty  to  slavery. 
In  fact,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  contrary  to  the  de- 
sign of  those  who  drafted  it,  never  had  the  valid- 
ity of  law.  Though  announcing  the  doctrine  of 
human  equality  and  inalienable  rights,  it  proved 
to  be,  as  far  as  effectiveness  was  concerned, only  a 
respectable  piece  of  buncombe,  simply  words.  Cer- 
tain it  was,  when  the  surrender  at  Yorktown  ended 
our  allegiance  to  the  mother  country,  we  had  sim- 
ply exchanged  masters.  This  country  was  no 
longer  owned  and  governed  by  King  George  and 
his  Parliament,  but  from  the  day  of  the  surrender 
at  Yorktown,  178 1,  to  the  day  of  a  still  greater 
surrender  at  Appomattox  in  1865,  a  period  of  nearly 
eighty-five  years,  this  country  was  ruled  with  a 
rod  of  iron  by  a  domineering  minority,  in  the  form 
of  an  aristocracy  of  Southern  slave  holders,  aided 
by  Northern  sympathizers.  Hence  the  surrender 
at  Appomattox  secured  liberty  to  the  white  man 
at  the  North  as  well  as  the  black  slave  at  the 
South. 


ISO  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Since  then  the  Declaration  has  meant  what  its 
language  would  imply,  and  this  glorious  old  ex- 
punged paragraph  should  be  restored.  At  the 
time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
in  1787,  it  was  generally  believed  that  slavery 
would  die  out  in  all  the  states.  A  man  would  not 
have  been  laughed  to  scorn  had  he  predicted  that 
Maryland,  Delaware  and  Virginia  would  be  free 
states  in  his  lifetime.  Seven  states  had  already 
abolished  slavery,  or  were  preparing  to  do  so. 
And  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  constitu- 
tion abolished  the  African  slave  trade  after  the 
year  1808,  though  why  this  clause  was  never  en- 
forced is  not  apparent.  Certain  it  is,  public  senti- 
ment was  gaining  ground  against  slavery  even  in 
Georgia,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  one  of  her 
representatives  stated  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
without  contradiction,  "that  there  was  not  a  man 
in  Georgia  who  did  not  wish  there  were  no  slaves, 
and  everybody  believed  they  were  a  curse  to  the 
country." 

Several  influences  contributed  to  mould  public 
opinion  against  slavery  at  this  time.  First  in 
order  of  importance,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Second,  the 
bravery  of  the  colored  soldiers  in  the  war  of  In- 
dependence. Having  aided  his  master  in  break- 
ing the  yoke  of  oppression,  it  was  inconsistent  for 
the  black  man  to  continue  a  servant  in 

"The  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

Third,  the  opposition  of  abolition  societies,  and 
religious  bodies,  particularly  the  Quakers,  who 
were  most  aggressive;   the  Methodists, who  resolved 


A  NEW  CENTURY  151 

in  general  conference  that  "slave-keeping  was  hurt- 
ful to  society,  and  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God, 
man  and  nature;"  and  the  Baptists  especially  in 
Rhode  Island.  Fourth,  the  influence  and  exam- 
ple of  such  fathers  of  the  Republic  as  Washing- 
ton, Jefferson,  Adams,  Franklin,  Hamilton  and 
Madison.  Fifth,  the  fact  that  it  had  been  demon- 
strated that  slavery  did  not  pay. 

Washington  and  Jefferson  both  opposed  the 
idea  of  buying  or  selling  Negroes  off  the  planta- 
tions to  which  they  belonged,  and  both  proved  by 
their  personal  experience  that  a  large  number  of 
Negroes  on  a  Virginia  plantation  was  an  economi- 
cal failure.  Supporting  his  numerous  slaves  brought 
Jefferson  to  poverty  in  his  old  age.  Washington, 
in  a  private  letter  written  while  President,  ex- 
presses an  opinion  that  slavery  must  soon  be  abol- 
ished in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  as  is  well 
Inown,  manumitted  his  own  slaves  by  his  last 
rvill. 

Neither  Jefferson  nor  Adams  had  any  part  in 
framing  the  constitution,  as  they  were  both  ab- 
sent at  foreign  courts.  They  held  identically  the 
same  views  on  the  slavery  question,  for  in  a  letter 
written  about  this  time  Jefferson  expressed  a 
strong  desire  that  the  slave  trade,  and  slavery  itself, 
might  be  abolished;  while  John  Adams  never 
owned  a  slave  during  his  life,  because  of  his  ab- 
horrence to  slavery. 

Franklin,  as  president  of  ths  Pennsylvania  abo- 
lition society,  earnestly  besought  Congress  to  give 
immedia-^.e  attention  to  the  subject  of  slavery. 
He  further  petitioned,  "that  you  will  be  pleased 
to  countenance  the    restoration  of  liberty  to  those 


152  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

lirihappy  men,  who  are  degraded  into  perpetual 
bondage;  and  that  you  will  discourage  every 
sspecies  of  traffic  in  persons  of  our  fellowmen." 

Hamilton,  while  secretary  of  the  New  York  abo- 
lition society,  received  a  request  from  La  Fayette, 
proposing  himself  as  a  fellow  member  of  his  soci- 
ety. And  Madison  in  the  constitutional  con- 
vention urged  the  members  to  strike  out  the  section 
delaying  the  prohibition  of  the  slave  trade  until  the 
year  1808,  saying:  "Twenty  years  will  produce 
all  the  mischief  that  can  be  apprehended  from  the 
liberty  to  import  slaves.  So  long  a  term  will  b3 
more  dishonorable  to  the  American  character  th'^n 
to  say  nothing  about  it  in  the  Constitution." 

Of  course  such  statesmen  and  patriots  as  these 
would  create  a  strong  public  sentiment  against 
slavery,  which  was  fast  spreading  over  the  entire 
nation.  But  an  event  occurred  in  1793  which 
turned  the  tide  in  favor  of  slavery,  and  benefited 
the  planter  more  than  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

"What,"  asked  Webster,  "created  the  new  feel- 
ing in  favor  of  slavery  in  the  South,  so  that  it  be- 
came a  cherished  institution,  no  evil,  no  scourge, 
but  great  religious,  social  and  moral  blessing?" 

To  answer  the  question  in  a  sentence  we  would 
say,  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin.  This  was 
due  to  the  mechanical  skill  of  Eli  Whitney  of 
Massachusetts.  Young  Whitney,  while  engaged  in 
school-teaching,  was  making  his  home  at  the  hos- 
pitable mansion  of  Mrs.  General  Nathaniel  Green, 
on  her  Georgia  plantation,  where  he  perfected  his 
invention  with  the  aid  of  his  kind  partner,  Mrs. 
Green. 

Prior    to    this    invention    it    was   the    work    of 


A  NEW  CENTURY  153 

a  man  for  one  whole  day  to  separate  a  pound 
of  cotton  fiber  from  the  seed;  but  by  the  use  of 
this  machine  one  man  could  do  the  work  of  fifty 
or  more. 

Undoubtedly  the  wealth  of  the  South  was  aug- 
mented by  this  invention  more  than  any  other, 
or  perhaps  all  others  combined.  Instead  of  being 
grateful  to  Whitney  for  conferring  untold  wealth 
upon  them,  some  neighboring  planters  broke  into 
the  house  where  it  was  kept  and  stole  his  inven- 
tion; so  that  much  of  his  life  was  embittered  by 
tedious  and  expensive  lawsuits  for  the  recovery 
of  his  rights.  Whitney,  however,  invented  a  gun 
after  this  from  which  he  realized  a  fortune.  The 
cotton-gin,  by  making  slave  labor  profitable, 
tended  to  rivet  the  chains  more  firmly  on  these 
unfortunate  people.  In  the  same  year  of  this  in- 
vention, a  duty  of  three  cents  a  pound  was  placed 
on  cotton, which  stimulated  its   production. 

The  slave  territory  was  extended  by  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana  in  1803,  of  Florida  in  18 19, 
and  the  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845.  Slavery 
had  been  quickened  in  the  border  states,  Mary- 
land, Virginia  and  Kentucky,  which  had  been  in 
fair  way  to  abolish  it  altogether  as  unprofitable  in 
the  raising  of  grain,  tobacco  and  live  stock  Sad 
to  relate,  some  of  the  most  conscientious  Chris- 
tian people  of  these  states,  and  the  District  of 
Columbia,  engaged  in  the  disreputable  business  of 
raising  slaves  for  the  Southern  market,  the  same 
as  they  did  mules  or  cattle,  and  kept  this  up  as 
one  of  the  main  sources  of  weath  until  slavery 
was  overthrown. 

The  first  Fugitive  Slave  law  was  passed  in  1793, 


154  ^  NEIV  NEGRO  FOR 

the  same  year  of  Whitney's  cotton-gin.  It  grew 
out  of  the  fact  that  a  free  Negro  had  been  kid- 
naped in  Pennsylvania,  by  three  white  ruffians, 
and  carried  to  Virginia.  When  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  could  not  get  him  from  the  Governor 
of  Virginia,  he  called  the  attention  of  President 
Washington  to  it,  who  in  turn  brought  it  before 
Congress,  and  urged  them  to  take  some  action  in 
the  matter.  The  result  was  the  passage  of  this 
first  Fugitive  Slave  Bill.  But  the  record  does  not 
show  w^hat  became  of  the  poor  kidnaped  free 
Negro. 

Such  laws  were  not  designed  to  give  the  Negro 
any  protection,  but  were  all  in  sympathy  with  the 
supposed  master. 

It  may  be  said  that  from  this  time  on  the  ag- 
gressive power  was  ever  ready  to  "lengthen  her 
cords,  and  strengthen  her  stakes,"  and  extend  her 
boundaries,  by  fair  means  if  she  could,  foul  if  she 
must;  and  the  latter  was  usually  adopted.  Her 
motto  seems  to    have  been  "rule  or  ruin." 

Everything  was  forced  to  bow  submissive  to  the 
Peculiar  Institution.  Her  usual  threat  which  she 
hung  suspended  over  the  North  like  .\-=imocle's 
sword,  was,  "Do  this  or  we  will  seced:;!"  Even 
the  matchless  Daniel  Webster  had  proven  recre- 
ant to  his  early  principles  and  bowed  the  knee  to 
this  Baal,  in  his  eagerness  for  a  Presidential  nomi- 
nation; while  his  no  less  distinguished  contem- 
porary, Henry  Clay,  living  midway  between  the 
two  sections,  was  ever  ready  to  step  in  between 
the  belligerents  with  a  cunningly  devised  compro- 
mise, as  one-sided  as  that  of  the  two  boys  who 
found  a  knife  jointly,  and  decided  that  the  smaller 


A  NEW  CENTURY  155 

boy  should  own,  and  the  larger  should  carry  and 
use  it. 

Even  in  the  North  there  were  many  open  sym- 
pathizers with  slavery,  while  others  were  disposed 
to  apologize  for  it;  but  those  in  the  main  were 
either  concerned  in  manufacturing  cotton,  or  ig- 
norant of  the  heartless  cruelty  of  the    institution. 

The  national  capital  was  located  on  slave  terri- 
tory, and  her  slave-pen  became  a  great  market, 
where  human  cattle  were  daily  disposed  of  to  the 
highest  bidder,  and  was  one  of  the  most  infamous 
in  the  nation.  The  story  is  told  of  a  woman  who 
escaped  from  it,  and  was  pursued  by  four  men 
across  the  long  bridge.  She  was  fast  gaining  on 
them,  when  they  shouted  to  others  on  the  Vir- 
ginia side,  who  ran  to  that  end  of  the  bridge  to 
intercept  her.  Seeing  this, she  uttered  a  wild  cry 
of  despair  and  threw  herself  into  the  river,  pre- 
ferring death  to  falling  into  the  heartless  hands  of 
her  pursuers  Another  woman  and  two  children 
fled  for  protection  to  the  steps  of  the  capitol 
building,  and  while  the  emblem  of  liberty  floated 
from  its  dome,  she  was  forced  to  the  slave-pen. 
Perhaps  the  most  baneful  feature  of  slavery,  from 
a  moral  standpoint,  was  the  unbridled  license  it 
gave  to  amalgamation.  I  don't  mean  theoreti- 
cally— only  the  despised  abolitionists  were  accused 
of  that — but  real  practical  amalgamation,  such  as 
men  in  power,  and  the  most  prominent  statesmen 
were  notoriously  guilty  of.  Well  might  Thomas 
Jefferson  say:  "The  best  blood  of  Virginia  runs 
in  the  veins  of  her  slaves."  Jane  Grey  Swisshelm, 
in  her  "Half  a  Century,"  says:  "One  of  Presi- 
dent Tyler's  daughters  ran  away  with  the  man  she 


156  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

loved,  in  order  that  they  might  be  married,  but 
for  this  they  must  reach  foreign  soil.  A  young 
lady  of  the  White  House  could  not  marry  the 
man  of  her  choice  in  the  United  States.  The  lovers 
were  captured,  and  she  was  brought  to  His  Ex- 
cellency, her  father,  who  sold  her  to  a  slave  trader. 
From  that  slave-pen  she  was  taken  to  New  Or- 
leans, by  a  man  who  expected  to  get  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars  for  her  on  account  of  her  great 
beauty." 

The  same  author  gives  some  evidence  that  Har- 
rison and  Taylor  both  preceded  Lincoln  as  vic- 
tims of  Southern  plots.  As  it  is  rather  startling, 
or  plausible,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  we  will  quote  it 
in  full.  Said  she  of  her  visit  to  Washington  dur- 
ing Taylor's  administration,  "Mr  Taylor,  the  Whig 
President,  had  pronounced  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill 
an  insult  to  the  North,  and  stated  his  determi- 
nation to  veto  it.  Fillmore,  the  Vice-President, 
was  in  favor  of  it.  So  Freedom  looked  to  a  man 
owning  three  hundred  slaves,  while  slavery  relied 
on  a  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles. 
President  Taylor  was  hated  by  the  South,  was 
denounced  as  a  traitor  to  his  section,  while  South- 
ern men   and   women   fawned    upon  and  flattered 

Fillmore When    it    became    known 

that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  could  pass  Congress, 
but  could  not  command  a  two-thirds  vote  to  carry 
it  over  the  assured  veto  of  President  Taylor,  he 
ate  a  plate  of  strawberries,  just  as  President 
Harrison  had  done  when  he  stood  in  the  way 
of  Southern  policy,  and  like  his  great  predecessor, 
Taylor  died  opportunely,  when  Mr.  Fillmore 
became  puresident  and  signed  the  bill." 


A  NEW  CENTURY  157 

She  visited  Charles  Sumner  while  he  was  in  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  recovering  from  the  Brooks 
assault.  Referring  to  it,  she  said:  "In  talking 
with  Mr.  Sumner  during  that  visit,  I  learned  that 
the  same  doctor  attended  both  President  Harrison 
and  President  Taylor  in  their  last  illness,  and  used 
his  professional  authority  to  prevent  their  friends 
seeing  them  until  the  fatal  termination  of  their 
illness  was  certain.  Also,  that  it  was  that  same 
doctor  who  was  within  call  when  Brooks  made  his 
assault  on  Sumner;  took  charge  of  the  case,  and 
made  an  official  statement  that  the  injury  was 
very  slight,  gave  it  a  superficial  dressing  and 
sought  to  exclude  every  one  from  the  room  of  his 
patient.  Said  Sumner:  *I  shuddered  when  I 
recovered  consciousness,  and  found  this  man  be- 
side me.'  He  dismissed  him  promptly,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  he  believed  he  would  not 
have  recovered  under  his  treatment.  When  the 
South  seceded,  this  useful  man  left  Washington 
and  joined  the  Confederacy." 

This  is  certainly  a  very  strong  chain  of  circum- 
stantial evidence  that  Lincoln  and  Garfield  were 
not  our  only  martyred  Presidents. 

The  following  is  from  a  letter  written  by  the 
celebrated  Irish  orator  and  statesman,  Daniel 
O'Connell.  It  was  written  at  Dublin,  October 
nth,  1843,  to  his  fellow  countrymen  in  America, 
concerning  slavery,  which  they  were  disposed  at 
that  time  to  endorse  or  apologize  for:  "You  say 
the  Negroes  are  naturally  an  inferior  race.  That 
is  a  totally  gratuitous  assertion  on  your  part.  In 
America  you  can  have  no  opportunity  of  seeing 
ilie  Negro  educated.     On  the  contrary,  in  most  of 


158  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

your  states  it  is  a  crime — sacred  Heaven! — a  crime 
to  educate  even  a  free  Negro!  How, then,  can  you 
judge  of  the  Negro  race,  when  you  see  them  de- 
spised and  condemned  by  educated  classes — reviled 
and  looked  down  upon  as  inferior?  The  Negro 
race  has  naturally  some  of  the  finest  qualities. 
They  are  naturally  gentle,  generous,  humane,  and 
very  grateful  for  kindness.  They  are  brave  and 
as  fearless  as  any  other  of  the  race  of  human  be- 
ings; but  the  blessings  of  education  are  kept  from 
them,  and  they  are  judged  of,  not  as  they  would 
be  with  proper  cultivation,  but  as  they  are  ren- 
dered by  cruel  and   debasing  oppression. 

"It  is  as  old  as  the  days  of  Homer,  who  truly 
asserts  that  'the  day  which  sees  a  man  a  slave  takes 
away  half  his  worth.'  Slavery  actually  brutalizes 
human  beings.  It  was  about  sixty  years  ago  when 
one  of  the  Sheiks,  not  far  south  of  Fez,  in  Morocco, 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  accumulating  white  slaves, 
upon  being  strongly  remonstrated  with  by  a 
European  Power,  gave  for  his  reply  that,  by  his 
own  experience  he  found  it  quite  manifest  that 
white  men  were  of  an  inferior  race,  intended  by 
nature  for  slaves;  and  he  produced  his  own  bru- 
talized white  slaves  to  illustrate  the  truth  of  his 
assertion.  And  a  case  of  an  American  with  a 
historic  name — John  Adams — is  quite  familiar. 
Some  twenty-five  years  ago — not  more — John 
Adams  was  the  sole  survivor  of  an  American  crew 
wrecked  on  the  African  coast.  He  was  taken 
into  the  interior  as  a  slave  of  an  Arab  chief.  He 
was  only  for  three  years  a  slave,  and  the  English 
and  American  consuls  having  been  informed  of  a 
white   man's    slavery,   claimed  him  and  obtained 


A  NEW  CENTURY  159 

his  liberation.  In  the  short  space  of  three  years 
he  had  become  completely  brutalized;  he  had 
completely  forgotten  the  English  language,  with- 
out having  acquired  the  native  tongue.  He  spoke 
a  kind  of  gabble,  as  unintellectual  as  the  dialects 
of  most  of  your  Negro  slaves;  and  many  months 
elapsed  before  he  recovered  his  former  habits 
and  ideas. 

"We  cannot  bring  ourselves  to  believe  that  you 
breathed  your  natal  air  in  Ireland — Ireland,  the 
first  of  all  the  nations  on  the  earth  that  abolished 
the  dealing  in  slaves.  The  slave  trade  of  that 
day  was  curious  enough,  a  slave  trade  in  British 
youths — Ireland,  that  never  was  stained  with  Negro 
slave  trading — Ireland,  that  never  committed 
offense  against  the  men  of  color — Ireland,  that 
never  fitted  out  a  single  vessel  for  the  traffic  in 
blood  on  the  African  coast. 

"We  ask  you  to  exert  yourselves  in  every 
possible  way  to  put  an  end  to  the  internal 
slave  trade  of  the  states.  The  breeding  of 
slaves  for  sale  is  probably  the  most  immoral 
and  debasing  practice  ever  known  in  the  world. 
It  is  a  crime  of  the  most  heinous  kind,  and 
if  there  were  no  other  crime  committed  by 
the  Americans,  this  alone  would  place  the  advo- 
cates, supporters  and  practicers  of  American 
slavery  in  the  lowest  grade  of  criminals  It  is  no 
excuse  to  allege  that  the  Congress  is  restricted 
from  emancipating  slaves  by  one  geneial  law. 
Each  particular  slave  state  has  that  power  within 
its  own  precincts;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  be 
convinced  that  Maryland  and  Virginia  would  have 
followed  the  example  of  New  York,  and   long  ago 


i6o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

abolished  slavery,  but  for  the  diabolical  practice 
of  'raising,'  as  you  call  it,  slaves  for  the  Southern 
market  of  pestilence  and  death. 

"Irishmen!  sons  of  Irishmen!  descendants  of  the 
kind  of  heart  and  affectionate  disposition,  think, 
oh!  think  only  with  pity  and  compassion  on  your 
colored  fellow  creatures  in  America.  Offer  them 
the  hand  of  kindly  help.  Soothe  their  sorrowa. 
Scathe  their  oppressor.  Join  with  your  country- 
men at  home  in  one  cry  of  horror  against  the  op- 
pressor; in  one  cry  of  sympathy  with  the  enslaved 
and  oppressed, 

'Till  prone  in  the  dust  slavery  shall  be  hurl'd, 
Its  name  and  nature  blotted  from  the  world.' 

"Irishmen,  I  call  upon  you  to  join  in  crushing 
slavery,  and  in  giving  liberty  to  every  man  and 
every  caste,  creed,  or  color. 

"D.  O'C." 

These  soul-stirring  sentiments  are  quite  differ- 
ent to  those  of  another  Irishman,  who  was  in  the 
act  of  marrying  a  Planter's  widow.  When  the 
minister  asked,  "Do  you  take  this  woman  to  be 
your  lawfully  wedded  wife.?"  he  replied,  "Yis,your 
riverance,   and  the    Naygurs  too." 

Henry  Wilson,  in  his  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Slave  Power,"  informs  us  that  when  the  news  of 
the  French  Revolution  of  1848,  in  which  the  King 
was  deposed  and  driven  into  exile,  reached  Wash- 
ington, it  was  the  occasion  of  great  rejoicing. 
President  Polk  sent  a  message  to  Congress  in 
which  he  announced  the  event,  and  stated  that 
"the  world  has  seldom  witnessed  a  more  interest- 
ing and  sublime  spectacle  than  the  peaceful  rising 
of  the  French  people,  resolved  to  secure  for  them- 
selves enlarged  liberty," 


A  NEW  CENTURY  i6i 

On  the  same  day  a  series  of  resolutions  were 
introduced  into  the  House  expressing  satisfaction 
that  "the  sentiment  of  self-government  is  com- 
mending itself  to  the  honorable  consideration  of  the 
more  intelligent  of  nations;"  and  announcing  the 
hope  that  "down-trodden  humanity  may  succeed 
in  breaking  down  all  forms  of  tyranny  and  oppres- 
sion;" and  tendering  their  "warmest  sympathies  to 
the  people  of  France  and  Italy  in  their  present 
struggle." 

The  following  amendment  was  offered  by  Mr. 
Ashmun  of  Massachusetts,  that  "we  especially 
see  an  encouraging  earnest  of  their  success  in 
the  decree  which  pledges  the  government  of  France 
to  early  measures  for  the  immediate  emancipation 
of  all  slaves  in  the  colonies."  The  following 
amendment  to  the  amendment  was  offered  by  Mr. 
Schenck  of  Ohio,  "recognizing,  as  we  do,  that 
there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude." 

This  was  followed  by  a  speech  from  Mr.  Hillard 
of  Alabama,  in  which  he  said.  "I  solemnly  believe 
that  the  time  has  come  when  kingcraft  has  lost  its 
hold  upon  the  human  mind.  The  world  is  wak- 
ing from  its  deep  slumber,  and  mankind  begin  to 
see  that  the  right  to  govern  belongs,  not  to 
crowned  kings,  but  to  the  great  masses." 

He  was  not  ready  to  recognize  the  doctrine  of 
human  equality  per  se.  He  referred  to  Mr.  Ash- 
mun's  amendment  as  "a  matter  which  does  not 
belong  to  it,"  and  defiantly  asserted  that  all  over 
the  South  there  was  a  determination  on  the  part 
of  the  masters  to  maintain  the  claim  on  their 
slaves,  "with  a  courage  and  firmness  which  nothing 


i62  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

can  intimidate  or  shame."  The  same  inconsis- 
tency was  displayed  by  Mr.  Haskell  of  Tennessee, 
who  stated  that  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  ''were  up- 
heaving beneath  the  throb  of  liberty  which  was 
animating  the  bosoms  of  the  people,  and  that  it 
was  from  this  country  that  they  had  caught  the 
flame;"  he  then  declared  that  he  was  "sick  and  tired 
of  this  continual  thrusting  in  this  subject  of  slav- 
ery," which  tended  "to  stop  the  progress  of  free- 
dom, to  injure  this  government  itself,  and  put  out 
this  light  toward  which  with  hope  were  turned  the 
eyes  of  the  down-trodden  world. " 

The  handful  of  anti-slavery  members  made  gal- 
lant light  defending  their  principles,  and  pointing 
out  the  gross  inconsistency  of  singing  p^ans  over 
the  triumph  of  liberty  in  France,  and  at  the  same 
instant  expressing  a  determination  to  perpetuate 
a  more  cruel  and  despotic  tyranny  in  this  Republic. 

Mr.  Giddings,  seeing  this  inconsistency,  said: 
"Look  from  that  v>^indow, and  you  will  see  a  slave- 
pen,  whose  gloomy  walls  in  mute  but  eloquent 
terms  proclaim  the  hypocrisy  of  the  deed,"  After 
reminding  the  House  that  all  this  is  sustained  by 
laws  passed  by  Congress,  he  continued,  "Will  not 
the  French  cast  back  all  such  pretended  sympathy 
with  abhorrence?  Will  they  not  look  with  disgust 
on  such  deception  and  hypocrisy  when  they  see  a 
nation  of  slave  dealers  tendering  their  sympathy 
to  a  free  people.^" 

About  this  time  seventy-seven  slaves  of  Washing- 
ton attempted  to  gain  for  themselves  that  freedom 
they  had  just  heard  so  highly  eulogized  for  others. 
They  doubtless  reasoned  that  if  freedom  was  a 
glorious  boon    for   the    French  peasant — and  had 


A  NEW  CENTURY  163 

not  the  Southern  statesmen  said  so? — it  could  not 
be  wrong  for  them  to  desire  it. 

An  old  gentleman  in  Kentucky  advised  his  neigh- 
bor's sons  to  enlist  for  the  Mexican  war;  but  was 
terribly  worried  when  two  of  his  own  sons  took 
his  advice.  So  in  this  case,  liberty  was  a  glorious 
thing  for  their  neighbors  across  the  ocean,  but  not 
to  be  even  thought  of  in  this  (so-called)  land  of 
the  free.  So  the  schooner  Pearl,  in  which  these 
slaves  embarked  for  freedom,  was  overtaken  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  and  forced  to  return 
to  Washington  with  its  unfortunate  passengers. 
Having  been  committed  to  jail,  they  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  merciless  slave  dealers  and  received 
the  dreaded  doom  of  being  sent  South. 

Among  these  poor  victims  of  man's  cruelty  and 
lust,  was  the  beautiful  quadroon,  Emily  Russell, 
a  sweet,  amiable,  gentle  Christian  girl.  She, with 
the  others, was  suffered  to  be  bought  by  the  cruel 
Baltimore  slave  dealers,  who  fixed  her  ransom  at 
eighteen  hundred  dollars  on  the  shameful  plea 
that  she  was  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  all  that 
country.  She  was  consigned  to  the  South.  But  the 
sun  of  her  life  was  about  to  set  below  the  horizon, 
and  death  came  to  her  relief  in  all  the  vigor  and 
freshness  of  girlhood,  saving  her  from  what  prob- 
ably would  have  been  a  life  of  misery,  and  causing 
her  mother  to  exclaim:  "The  Lord  be  thanked. 
He  has  heard  my  prayers  at  last." 

Though  ignorant,  helpless,  crushed  in  spirit, 
weighed  down  with  hardship  and  cruel  bereave- 
ment,they  were  still  human,  and  as  true  and  affec- 
tionate hearts  best  within  their  breasts  as  any  that 
throbbed  beneath  lighter  skins. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SLAVERY  UNMASKED. 

We  would  gladly  pass  by  this  chapter  in  silence, 
for    it  must  be  painful  alike  to  writer  and   reader 

But  as  the  surgeon  must  harden  his  heart'  while 
he  probes  the  wound,  that  he  may  apply  a  healing 
lotion;  so  the  historian  must  record  the  facts 
however  heart-rending, that  he  may  perchance  sug- 
gest a  remedy. 

As  has  been  stated,  slaves  were  found  to  be 
profitable  for  labor,  only  in  the  Southern  states, 
where  the  semi-tropical  crops,  rice,  indigo,  sugar 
and  cotton  were  produced.  This  includes  those 
states  from  Maryland,  Virginia,  Kentucky  and 
Missouri,  southward.  Then  the  question  might  be 
asked,  Why  did  not  these  four  states  either  manu- 
mit their  slaves  or  sell  them  to  the  Southern  plan- 
ters, and  thereby  stop  an  unprofitable  business,  and 
restrict  the  slave  territory.?  Simply  "because  the 
love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil."  For  while 
slaves  were  not  profitable  in  the  border  states  for 
labor,  they  were  profitable  for  propagating  the 
race,  increasing  the  numbers;  and  to  have  sold  off 
all  the  slaves  of  those  states  would  have  been  to 
kill  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  egg.. 

164 


A  NEW  CENTURY  165 

When  it  was  found  that  the  raising  of  grain, live 
stock,  and  so  forth,  by  slave  labor  was  unprofit- 
able, many  slaves  were  sent  South,  where  they 
brought  a  high  price;  but  enough  were  reserved 
for  cultivating  the  farms  and  to  increase  the  num- 
bers, so  as  to  again  flood  the  market.  For,  hor- 
rible to  relate,  in  the  four  border  states  and  the 
District  of  Columbia,  the  slaves  themselves  be- 
came one  of  the  large  products  cf  export.  Accord- 
ing to  "Wilson's  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power 
in  America,"  "this  traffic  had  become  so  enormous 
that  in  1836  it  was  estimated  that  the  number  sold 
from  the  single  state  of  Virginia  was  forty  thou- 
sand, yielding  a  return  of  twenty-four  millions  of 
dcllars.  It  was  in  fact  the  great  business,  licensed 
and  protected  by  laws,  advertised  in  the  papers 
and  recognized  as  one  of  the  branches  of  legiti- 
mate production  and  trade."  But  of  course  there 
were  humane  men  even  in  the  South,  whose  hearts 
were  grieved  at  the  cruel  traffic  conducted  around 
them.  They  denounced  in  vehement  and  scathing 
language  a  barbarous  custom  which  tore  the  infant 
from  its  mother's  yearning  breast,  that  the  one 
might  be  sold  and  the  other  left;  scattering  fam- 
ilies, severing  husbands  and  wives  never  to  meet 
again,  until  they  met  at  the  bar  of  a  just  God  as 
common  accusers  of  an  inhuman  master.  There 
are  times  when  ties  of  blood  hold  us  but  loosely; 
still  a  day  comes  when  nature  asserts  itself,  and 
no  acquired  affection  has  the  pewter  over  us  that  is 
wielded  by  the  love  we  are  born  to;  and  we  can 
but  appreciate  the  melancholy  scene  the  song-writer 
describes:  — 


1 66  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

"I  am  thinking  to-day  of  dem  years  dat's  passed  away, 

When  dey  tied  me  up  in  bondage  long  ago; 
In  old  Virginny  state,  it  was  there  we  separate, 

And  it  fill  my  heart  with  misery  and  woe. 
Dey  took  away  my  boy,  he  was  his  mother's  joy, 

From  a  baby  in  de  cradle  we  him  raise; 
Oh!  dey  put   us  far  apart  and  dey  broke  de  old  man's  heart 

In  dem  agonizing,cruel  slavery  days." 

Even  one  of  the  governors  of  South  Carolina, 
in  a  message  to  the  Legislature,  denounced  "this 
remorseless  and  merciless  traffic,  the  ceaseless 
dragging  along  the  streets  and  highways  of  a  crowd 
of  suffering  victims  to  minister  to  insatiable 
avarice." 

A  Presbyterian  synod  of  Kentucky  refers  to  the 
slave  caufle  often  seen  there  as  proclaiming  "the 
iniquity  of  our  system."  It  adds,  "There  is  not  a 
village  that  does  not  behold  the  sad  procession  of 
manacled  victims." 

A  Southern  editor  wrote  of  such  a  procession  he 
saw  passing  through  his  city,  "with  heavy,  galling 
chains  riveted  on  their  person,  half  naked,  half 
starved,"  traveling  to  the  plantations  of  the  South, 
where  "their  miserable  condition  will  be  second 
only  to  the  wretched  creatures  in  hell." 

The  pathetic  scene  as  described  by  the  following 
verse  was  often  enacted. 

"One  night  I  went  to  see  her,  but  she's  gone,  the  neighbors  say, 
The  white  man  bound  her  with  his  chain; 
They  have  taken  her  to  Georgia  for  to  wear  her  life  away, 
As  she  toils  in  the  cotton  and  the  cane." 

A  Baltimore  journal  of  this  jieriod  said:  -  "Deal- 
ing in  slaves  has  become  a  large  business;  estab- 
lishments are  made  in  several  places  in    Maryla^^d 


..^^ 


DR.  J.  FRANK  McKINLEY, 

riraduate  of  the  IMedical  Department  of  the  University  of 

Michigan;    noted  physician. 


167 


i68  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  Virginia,  at  which  they  are  sold  Hke  cattle. 
These  places  of  deposit  are  strongly  built,  and  well 
supplied  with  iron  thumb-screws  and  gags,  and  or- 
namented with  cow-skins,  oftentimes  bloody." 

One  of  Virginia's  most  gifted  sons  of  his  day, 
Thomas  Jefferson  Randolph,  said  in  the  Legislature 
of  that  state,  in  1832,  that  "the  state  was  one 
grand  menagerie,  where  men  are  reared  for  the 
market  like  oxen  for  the  shambles."  He  even 
considered  the  domestic  slave  trade  much  worse 
than  foreign;  for  in  the  latter,  said  he,  "only 
strangers  in  aspect,  language  and  manner"  are 
taken;  while  in  the  former  the  master  class  sells 
those  he  has  "known  from  infancy,  into  a  strange 
country,  among  a  strange  people,  subject  to  cruel 
taskmasters."  Evidently  an  extensive  traffic  was 
carried  on  in  slaves  all  through  the  South,  as  the 
papers  of  that  period  were  filled  with  such  adver- 
tisements as  "Cash  for  Negroes,"  "Negroes  for 
sale,"  and  "Negroes  wanted." 

By  actual  count,  four  thousand  and  one  hundred 
Negroes  were  advertised  for  sale  in  sixty-four 
newspapers  of  the  eight  slave  states  in  the  last  two 
weeks  of  November,  1852.  We  have  quoted  thus 
irom  Southern  authority;  so  also  is  the  following 
curious  advertisement  which  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Independent  of  March  1850,  copied  from  the 
Religious  Herald,  a  Baptist  paper  of  Richmond, 
Virginia:  "Who  wants  thirty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars in  property?  I  am  desirous  to  spend  the  balance 
of  my  life  as  a  missionary,  if  the  Lord  perrnit,and 
therefore  offer  for  sale  my  farm,  the  vineyard  ad- 
jacent   to    Williamsburg and    also 

about  forty  servants,  mostly  young  and  likely,  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  169 

rapidly  increasing  in  number  and  value."  Truly 
consistency  is  a  jewel,  but  this  good  man  (?)  evi- 
dently was  a  stranger  to  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  demorali;^ing  phase  of  the  slave 
trade  was  the  fact  that  fathers  would  often  sell 
foi  the  Southern  market  their  own  children  with- 
out the  slightest  compunctions  of  conscience.  But 
how  were  these  poor  creatures  treated  when  once 
they  arrived  at  their  destination  on  the  Southern 
plantations,  weary  and  foot-sore,  galled  by  their 
heavy  chains?  All  that  these  poor  victims  of  un- 
requited toil  could  expect  to  get  out  of  this  life 
was  food  and  clothing,  and  a  place  to  shelter  them, 
and  did  they  always  get  that?  The  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  obtained  a. report  from  forty-six  sugar 
plantations  of  Louisiana;  according  to  this,  the 
cost  of  feeding  and  clothing  an  able-bodied  slave 
was  thirty  dollars  per  year.  Olmstead,  who  has 
traveled  extensively  through  the  South,  estimates 
that  ten  dollars  would  be  necessary  for  clothing, 
which  would  leave  only  twenty  dollars  for  food, 
or  five  and  one-half  cents  per  day.  He  then  asks, 
"Does  the  food  of  a  first-rate  laborer  anywhere  in 
the  free  world  cost  less?"  Corn-meal  was  the  in- 
variable article  of  food,  though  sometimes  at  rare 
intervals,  bacon,  molasses  or  rice    was    provided. 

A  Louisiana  cotton  planter  furnished  De  Bow, 
author  of  "De  Bow's  Resources  of  the  South  and 
West,"  an  itemized  estimate  of  the  expense  of  a 
cotton  crop.  In  this  the  cost  of  feeding  a  hun- 
dred slaves,  furnishing  the  overseer's  table,  and 
the  hospital,  was  estimated  at  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  for  the  year.  This  was  seven  dollars 
and  a  half  for  each  slave,  or  less  than  three  cents 


I70  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

per  day.  From  the  same  planter  De  Bow  also 
learned  that  the  cost  of  furnishing  shoes,  clothes, 
and  beds  for  one  hundred  slaves,  also  sacks  to 
gather  cotton,  did  not  exceed  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  per  annum.  This  statement  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  all  the  slaves  on  the  cotton  and 
sugar  plantations  invariably  looked  ragged  and 
dirty.  The  supply  of  food  for  slaves  was  fixed  by 
the  Legislature  of  several  Southern  states. 
Louisiana  required  that  meat  should  be  furnished, 
but  this  law  became  obsolete.  North  Carolina 
fixed  the  daily  allowance  of  corn.  And  yet  to- 
day Southern  statesmen  are  fond  of  assuring  us  that 
they  have  always  "opposed  all  sumptuary  laws." 
It  might  be  added  that  they  prohibited  any  one 
selling  or  giving  whisky  to  their  Negroes.  But 
since  the  war  they  have  bitterly  opposed  Prohi- 
bition as  a  sumptuary  law. 

In  the  cotton,  sugar  and  rice  districts  the  slaves 
were  systematically  overworked.  In  South  Car- 
olina the  legal  limit  of  a  day's  work  on  a  cotton 
plantation  was  fixed  at  fifteen  hours.  But  during 
the  picking  season  the  slaves  labored  sixteen 
hours  under  the  driver's  lash;  while  on  the  sugar 
plantations  of  Lousiana,  during  the  grinding  season, 
eighteen  were  exacted,  often  with  no  Sunday's 
rest.  Think  of  it,  you  free  laborers,  who  very 
properly  draw  the  line  at  about  half  of  this  time, 
with  good  wages  and  Sunday  rest. 

Patrick  Henry  said  of  the  overseer  of  his  day, 
"They  are  the  most  abject,  degraded,  and  unprin- 
cipled race."  Time  and  new  conditions  did  not 
improve  them,  for  the  historian  Rhodes  says  of 
them,      "They  were  generally  ignorant,  frequently 


A  NEW  CENTURY  171 

intemperate,  always  despotic  and  brutal.  Their 
value  was  rated  according  to  the  size  of  the  cot- 
ton crop  they  made,  and  with  that  end  in  view 
they  spared  not  the  slaves,  who  always  worked 
under  the  lash."  Even  Chancellor  Harper,  who 
wrote  a  strong  defense  of  slavery, says:  "It  is  true 
that  the  slave  is  driven  to  labor  by  stripes." 
.  The  fact  is  demonstrated  that  the  Negroes  were 
often  overtasked  to  their  permanent  injury, from  the 
complaint  made  by  Southern  agricultural  journalif 
of  the  bad  policy  of  thus  wasting  human  property. 
But  nothing  was  said  about  the  inhumanity  of 
thus  killing  slaves  by  abuse. 

A  stout  Negro  driver,  chosen  because  of  his  un- 
usual cruelty,  followed  each  gang  of  working  slaves, 
urging  them  on  with  loud  voice  and  the  cracking 
of  his  long  whip. 

A  tradesman  in  Alabama  told  Olmstead  that  if 
the  overseers  raise  "plenty  of  cotton,  the  owners 
never  ask  how  many  niggers  they  kill."  Olmstead 
also  learned  that  "a  determined  and  perfectly  re- 
lentless overseer  could  get  almost  any  wages  he 
demanded,  for  when  it  .  v.came  known  that  such  a 
man  had  made  more  bales  to  the  slave  than  his 
competitors,  every  planter  would  try  to  get  him." 

The  name  Alabama  means,  "Here  we  rest,"  but 
this  certainly  did  not  apply  to  the  poor  colored 
people. 

"If  you  don't  work  faster,  or  if  you  don't  work 
better,  I  will  have  you  flogged,"  was  often  heard, 
and  seldom  an  idle  threat. 

In  Olmstead's  "Cotton  Kingdom, "he  quotes  from 
an  overseer  who  said:  "Why, sir,  I  wouldn't  mind 
killing  a  nigger  more  than  I  would  a  dog."  Fannie 


172  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Kemble  is  responsible  for  the  statement,  that  the 
sugar  planters  of  Louisiana  unhesitatingly  avowed 
that  they  found  it  upon  the  whole  their  most 
profitable  plan  to  work  off  (kill  with  labor)  their 
whole  number  of  slaves  about  once  in  seven  years 
and  renew  the  whole  stock.  They  proceeded  to 
adopt  this  plan,  as  we  have  seen,  by  working  dur- 
ing the  grinding  season  eighteen  hours  per  day, 
and  seven  days  for  a  week,  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  God,  man  and  nature. 

Again  quoting  from  Rhodes:  "No  one  can  won- 
der that  it  was  a  painful  sight  to  see  slaves  at  work 
in  the  cotton  field.  Their  besotted  and  generally 
repulsive  expression,  their  brute-like  countenances, 
on  which  were  painted  stupidity, indolence,  duplic- 
ity, and  sensuality;  their  listlessness;  their  dogged 
action;  the  stupid,  plodding,  machine-like  manner, 
in  which  they  labored,  made  a  sorrowful  picture 
of  man's  inhumanity  to  man."  General  Sherman, 
while  living  in  Louisiana, observed  that  "the  field 
slaves  were  treated  like  animals." 

Frederick  Douglass,  speaking  of  one  period  in  his 
life,  said:  "My  natural  elasticity  was  crushed;  my 
intellect  languished;  the  disposition  to  read  de- 
parted; the  cheerful  spark  that  lingered  about  my 
eye  died  out;  the  dark  night  of  slavery  closed  in 
upon  me,  and  behold  a  man  transformed  to  a 
brute." 

As  is  generally  known,  cotton  was  the  main  crop 
raised  by  slave  labor,  and  the  great  hope  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  Their  leaders  believed 
two  errors,  and  from  these  drew  a  f^lse  conclusion. 
First;  they  said,  cotton  cannot  be  grown  without 
slave   labor;   and    second,  England    cannot    exist 


A  NEW  CENTURY  173 

without  Southern  cotton,  ergo,  England  must 
come  to ''the  gigantic  relief"  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. 

According  to  De  Bow's  estimate  in  1850  of  the 
three  million  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
thousand  slaves  in  the  South,  one  million  eight 
hundred  thousand  were  employed  in  cotton  cul- 
ture. The  motto  of  the  planter  seemed  to  be, 
"Let  us  buy  more  Negroes  to  raise  more  cotton, to 
buy  more  Negroes  to  raise  mere  cotton,"  and  so 
on  ad  infinitmn.  The  same  year  there  were  only 
three  hundred  and  forty-seven  thousand,  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  slave  holders,  who  with  their 
families  numbered  about  two  millions.  The  entire 
white  population  of  the  South  was  six  million  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand;  consequently 
less  than  one  third  of  the  white  people  of  the  slave 
states  could  have  been  in  any  way  benefited  by 
this  "peculiai  institution,"  and  more  than  seven 
millions  bond  and  free  either  labored  for  them,  or 
were  controlled  by  this  aristocracy. 

The  curse  of  slavery  fell  hardest  upon  the  wom- 
en, those  who  were  least  able  to  bear  it,  as  the 
following  quotations  from  Fanny  Kemble's  Jour- 
nal of  a  Residence  on  a  Georgia  Plantation  will 
show.  Said  she:  "On  my  husband's  first  vi^it  to 
his  estate  he  found  that  the  men  and  the  women 
who  labored  in  the  fields  had  the  same  tasks  to 
perform.  This  was  a  noble  admission  of  female 
equality,  was  it  not?  And  thus  it  had  been  on  the 
estate  for  many  years  past.  He,  of  course,  altered 
the  distribution  of  the  work,  diminishing  the  quan- 
tity done  by  the  women."  Fanny  Kemble  had  a 
Vv^oman's  sympathy  for  the  slave  women  of  herhus* 


174  ^  NEIV  NEGRO  FOR 

band's  plantation,  and  did  all  in  her  power  to  al- 
leviate their  condition.  She  noted  with  burning 
shame  the  general  lewdness  and  gross  immorality 
prevalent  among  the  slaves. 

The  increasing  of  families  was  indirectly  encour- 
aged without  the  slightest  restriction.  A  woman 
seemed  to  think  that  "the  more  she  added  to  her 
master's  property  by  bringing  new  slaves  into  the 
world, the  more  claim  she  would  have  upon  his  con- 
sideration and  good  will.  This  was  perfectly  evi- 
dent to  me  from  the  meritorious  air  with  which  the 
women  always  made  haste  to  inform  me  of  the 
number  of  children  they  had,  and  the  frequent 
occasions  on  which  the  older  slaves  would  direct 
my  attention  to  their  children,  exclaiming,  'Look, 
missis!  plenty  little  niggers  for  you  and  little 
missis!'" 

Sad  to  relate,  this  idea  seems  to  have  been  instilled 
into  the  slaves  almost  irom  childhood,  as  the  follow- 
ing from  the  same  author  shows:  "On  my  return 
home  1  was  met  by  a  child  (as  she  seemed  to  me) 
carrying  a  baby,  in  whose  behalf  she  begged  me 
for  some  clothes.  On  making  some  inquiry  I  was 
amazed  to  find  that  the  child  was  her  own;  she 
said  she  was  married  and  fourteen  years  old;  she 
looked  much  younger  even  than  that,  poor  creatuie. 
Her  mother,  who  came  up  while  I  was  talking  to 
her,  said  she  did  not  herself  know  the  girl's  age; 
how  horribly  brutish  it  all  did  seem,  to  be    sure!" 

A  short  time  after  this  several  slave  women 
called  on  her  at  the  great  house;  and  this  is  wh^.i 
she  says  of  two  of  them:  "Among  others,  a  poor 
woman  called  Mile,  who  could  hardly  stand  for 
pain  and  swelling  in  her  limbs;   she    had    brought 


A  NEW  CENTURY  i75 

fifteen  children  into  the  world,  nine  of  them  hav- 
ing died;  for  the  last  three  3'ears  she  had  become 
almost  a  cripple  with  chronic  rheumatism,  yet  she 
is  driven  every  day  to  work  in  the  field.  She  held 
my  hands,  and  stroked  them  in  the  most  appeal- 
ing ways,  while  she  exclaimed,  'Oh,  my  missis! 
my  missis!  me  neber  sleep  till  day  for  de  pain, 'and 
with  the  day  her  labor  must  again  be  resumed.  I 
gave  her  flannel  and  sal  volatile  to  rub  her  poor 
swelled  limbs  with;  rest  I  could  not  give  her — rest 
from  her  -labor  and  her  pain — this  mother  of  fifteen 
children. 

"Another  of  my  visitors  had  a  still  more  dismal 
story  to  tell;  her  name  was  Die;  she  had  had  six- 
teen children,  fourteen  of  whom  were  dead.  They 
had  strained  her  arms  up  to  be  lashed  I  asked 
her  what  she  meant  by  having  her  arms  tied  up. 
She  said  their  hands  were  first  tied  together,  some- 
times by  the  wrists  and  sometimes,  which  was 
worse,  by  the  thumbs,  and  they  were  then  drawn 
up  to  a  tree  or  post,  so  almost  to  swing  them  off 
the  ground,  and  then  their  clothes  rolled  round 
their  waist,  and  a  man  with  a  cowhide  stands  and 
stripes  them.  I  give  you  the  woman's  words. 
She  did  not  speak  of  this  as  anything  strange,  un- 
usual, or  especially  horrid  and  abominable." 

One  more  extract  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  her  husband's  slaves  were  fed.  Said  she  to 
the  lady  friend  for  whom  she  wrote  the  journal: 
"How  do  you  think  Berkshire  County  farmers 
would  relish  laboring  hard  all  day  upon  two  meals 
of  Indian  corn  or  hominy.?  Such  is  the  regulation 
on  the  plantation,  however,  and  I  beg  you  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  Negroes  on  this  estate  are  gener- 


176  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ally  considered  well  off.  They  go  to  the  field  at 
daybreak,  carrying  with  them  their  allowaiice  of 
food  for  the  day,  which  toward  noon,  and  not  till 
then, they  eat;  cooking  it  over  a  fire  which  they  kin- 
dle as  best  they  can,  where  they  are  working. 
Their  second  meal  in  the  day  is  at  night,  Sifter 
their  labor  is  over,  having  worked,  at  the  very 
least,  six  hours  without  intermission  of  rest  or 
refreshment  since  their  noonday  meal,  properly 
so-called,  for  it  was  meal  and  nothing  else."  She 
also  stated  that  their  houses  were  miserable  little 
squalid  hovels,  swarming  with  vermin,  crowded 
to  suffocation,  and  so  poorly  ventilated  that  in 
that  hot  climate  it  was  almost  impossible  to  get 
a  breath  of  fresh  air.  The  same  was  in  a  rr.  easure 
true  of  the  so-called  slave  hospitals. 

Jane  Grey  Swisshelm,  sometimes  calltd  the 
"Fanny  Kemble  of  America,"  in  her  book  entitled 
"Half  a  Century,"  speaking  of  the  time  she  lived 
in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  almost  fifty  years  ago, 
said:  "While  I  lived  on  that  dark  and  bloody 
ground,  a  Negro  was  beaten  to  death  in  an  open 
shed,  on  the  corner  of  two  public  streets,  where 
the  sound  of  the  blows,  the  curses  of  his  two  tor- 
mentors, and  his  shrieks  and  unavailing  prayers 
for  mercy  were  continued  for  a  whole  forenoon, 
and  sent  the  complaining  air  shuddering  to  the 
ears  of  thousands,  not  one  of  whom  offered  any 
help. 

"Passing  a  crowded  church  on  a  Sabbath  after- 
noon, I  stepped  in,  when  the  preacher  was  descant- 
ing on  the  power  of  religion,  and,  in  illustration, 
he  told  of  two  wicked  young  men  in  that  state, 
who  were  drinking  and  gambling  on  Sunday  morn- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  177 

ing,  when  one  said:  'I  can  lick  the  religion  out  of 
any  nigger.' 

"I he  other  would  bet  one  hundred  dollars 
that  he  had  a  nigger  out  of  whom  the  religion 
could  not  be  licked.  The  bet  was  taken  and 
they  adjourned  to  a  yard.  This  unique  nigger 
was  summoned,  and  proved  to  be  a  poor  old 
man.  His  master  informed  him  he  had  a  bet  on 
him,  and  the  other  party  commanded  him  to  'curse 
Jesus, 'on  pain  of  being  liogged  until  he  did.  The 
old  saint  dropped  on  his  knees  before  his  master, 
and  pleaded  for  mercy,  saying:  'Massa!  Massa! 
I  cannot  curse  Jesus!  Jesus  die  for  me!  He  die 
for  you,  Massa.    I  no  curse  him;   I  no  curse  Jesus!' 

"The  master  began  to  repent.  In  babyhood  he 
had  ridden  on  those  old  bowed  shoulders,  then 
stalwart  and  firm,  and  he  proposed  to  withdraw 
the  bet,  but  the  other  wanted  sport  and  would 
win  the  money.  Oh!  the  horrible  details  that  the 
preacher  gave  of  that  day's  sport,  of  the  lashings, 
and  faintings,  and  revivals,  with  washes  of  strong 
brine,  the  prayers  for  mercy,  and  the  recurring 
moan,  T  no  curse  Jesus,  Massa!  I  no  curse 
Jesus.   Jesus  die   for  me,  Massa;   I  die  for  Jesus!' 

"As  the  sun  went  down  Jesus  took  him,  and  his 
merciless  master  had  sold  a  worthless  nigger  for 
one  hundred  dollars.  But  the  only  point  which 
the  preacher  made  was  that  one  in  favor  of  re- 
ligion: When  it  could  so  support  a  Nigger,  what 
might  it  not  do  for  one  of  the  superior  race?" 

A  female  member  of  the  Fourth  St.  Methodist 
Church  was  threatened  with  discipline,  for  nailing 
her  cook  to  the  fence  by  the  ear  with  a  ten-penny 
nail,   The  preacher  in  charge  witnessed  the  punish- 


178  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ment  from  a  back  window  of  his  residence.  Hun- 
dreds of  others  witnessed  it,  called  by  the  shrieks 
of  the  victim;  and  his  reverence  protested  on  the 
ground  that  "such  scenes  were  calculated  to  injure 
the  church." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
by  Rev.  John  H.  Aughey,  a  brilliant  young  Pres- 
byterian minister,  who  fled  from  the  South  to  save 
his  life  shortly  after  penning  these  lines,  having 
been  an  eye-witness  to  many  of  the  scenes. 

"Kosciusko,  Atlanta  Co.,  Mississippi,  December 
25,  1861. 

"Mr.  William  Jackman. 

"Dear  Sir: — Your  last  kind  and  truly  welcome 
letter  came  to  hand  in  due  course  of  mail.    .    .    . 

"In  your  letter  you  desired  me  from  my  stand- 
point to  give  you  my  observations  of  the  workings 
of  the  peculiar  institution,  and  an  expression  of 
my  views  as  to  its  consistency  with  the  eternal 
principle  of  rectitude  and  justice.  In  reply  I  will 
give  you  a  plain  narrative  of  facts.  On  my  ad- 
vent to  the  South,  I  was  at  first  struck  with  the 
fact  that  the  busy  hum  of  labor  had  in  some  meas- 
ure ceased.  What  labor  I  did  observe  progress- 
ing was  done  with  little  skill  and  mainly  by  Ne- 
groes. I  called  upon  the  Rev.  Dr.  R.  J.  Breck- 
enridge,  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction, 
who  treated  me  with  the  greatest  kindness,  invit- 
ing me  to  make  his  home  my  home  when  I  visited' 
that  section  of  the  country.  On  leaving  his 
house,  he  gave  me  some  directions  as  to  the  road 
I  must  travel  to  reach  a  certain  point.  'You  will 
pass,'  said  he,  'a  blacksmith's  shop,  where  a  one- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  179 

eyed  man  is  at  work — my  property. '  The  phrase, 
*my  property,'  I  had  never  before  heard  apphed 
to  a  human  being,  and  it  grated  harshly  upon  my 
ears.  But  it  grated  much  more  harshly  a  week 
after  this  to  hear  the  groans  of  two  such  chattels, 
as  they  underwent  a  severe  flagellation,  while 
chained  to  the  whipping-post,  because  they  had, 
by  half  an  hour,  overstayed  their  time  with  their 
families  on  the  adjoining  plantation.  The  next 
peculiar  abomination  of  the  peculiar  institution 
which  I  observed  was  the  licentiousness  engendered 
by  it.  Mr.  D.  F —  of  Madison  County,  Kentucky, 
had  a  white  family  of  children,  and  a  black,  or 
rather  mulatto  family.  As  his  white  daughters 
married  he  gave  each  a  mulatto  half-sister,  as  a 
waiting-girl  or  body-servant. 

"Mr.  B —  of  Marshall  County,  Mississippi,  lived 
with  his  white  wife  till  he  had  grandchildren,  some 
of  whom  came  to  school  to  me,  when  he  repudi- 
ated his  white  wife,  and  attached  himself  to  a  very 
homely  African,  who  superintends  his  household, 
and  rules  his  other  slaves  with  rigor.  Mr.  S —  of 
Tishomingo  County,  Mississippi,  took  a  Negro  for  a 
wife,  and  had  a  large  family  of  mulatto  children. 
He  once  brought  this  woman  to  church  at  Rienzi, 
to  the  great  indignation  of  the  white  ladies,  who 
removed  to  a  respectable  distance  from  her.  I 
preached  recently  to  a  large  congregation  of  slaves, 
one-third  of  which  were  as  white  as  myself.  Some 
of  them  had  red  hair  and  blue  eyes.  If  there  are 
any  marked  characteristics  of  their  masters'  fami- 
lies, the  mulatto  slaves  are  possessed  of  these  char- 
acteristics. 

"I  never  knew  a  pious  overseer — never!     There 


i8o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

may  be  many,  but  I  never  saw  one.  Overseers,  as 
a  class, are  worse  than  the  slaveholders  themselves. 
They  are  cruel,  brutal,  licentious,  dissipated  and 
profane.  They  always  carry  a  loaded  whip,  a 
revolver  and  a  bowie-knife.  These  men  have  the 
control  of  women,  whom  they  often  whip  to  death. 
Mr.  P — ,who  resided  near  Holly  Springs,  had  a 
Negro  woman  whipped  to  death  while  I  was  at  his 
house  during  a  session  of  Presbytery.  Mr.  C — 
of  Waterford,  Mississippi,  had  a  woman  whipped 
to  death  by  his  overseer.  But  such  cruel  scourg- 
ings  are  of  daily  occurrence. 

"Colonel  H — ,  a  member  of  my  church, told  me 
yesterday  that  he  ordered  a  boy,  who  he  supposed 
was  feigning  sickness,  to  the  whipping-post,  but 
that  he  had  not  advanced  ten  steps  towards  it 
when  he  fell  dead! — and  the  servant  was  free  from 
his  master.  During  our  conversation,  a  girl  passed. 
'There  is  a  girl,'  said  he,  'who  does  not  look  very 
white  in  the  face  owing  to  exposure,  but  when  I 
strip  her  to  whip  her  I  find  she  has  a  skin  as  fair 
as  my  wife. ' 

"Mrs.T —  recently  whipped  a  boy  to  death  within 
half  a  mile  of  my  residence.  A  jury  of  inquest 
returned  a  verdict  that  he  came  to  his  death  by 
cruelty,  but  nothing  more  was  done.  Mrs.  M — ■ 
and  her  daughter,  of  Holly  Springs,  abused  a  girl 
repeatedly.  She  showed  her  bruises  to  some  of 
my  congregation,  and  they  believed  them  fatal. 
She  soon  after  died.  Mrs.  S — ,  a  member  of  my 
church, has  several  maimed  Negroes  from  abuse  on 
the  part  of  the  overseer.  I  am  residing  on  the  banks 
of  the  Yock-a-nookany,  which  means  *meander- 
ing'  in  the  Indian    tongue.      In  this  vicinity  there 


A  NEW  CENTURY  i8i 

are  large  plantations,  cultivated  by  hundretis 
of  Negroes.  The  white  population  is  sparse. 
Every  night  the  Negroes  are  brought  to  a  judg- 
ment-seat. The  overseer  presides.  If  they  have 
not  labored  to  suit  him,  or  if  their  task  is  unful- 
filled, they  are  chained  to  a  post  and  severely 
whipped.  The  victims  are  invariably  stripped,  to 
what  extent  is  at  the  option  of  the  overseer. 

"Mr.  C — of  Waterford,  Mississippi,  punished 
his  Negroes  by  slitting  the  soles  of  their  feet  with 
his  bowie-knife!  One  man  he  put  into  a  cotton- 
press  and  turned  the  screw  till  life  was  extinct. 
He  stated  that  he  only  intended  to  alarm  the  man, 
but  carried  the  joke  too  far.  I  have  heard  women 
thus  plead,  in  piteous  accents,  when  chained  to 
the  whipping-post  and  stripped:  'O  my  God, 
master!  don't  whip  me!  I  was  sick!  Indeed  I 
was  sick!  I  had  a  chill  and  the  fever  is  on  me 
now!  I  haven't  tasted  a  morsel  to-day!  You 
know  I  works  when  I  is  well!  O,  for  God's  sake 
don't  whip  a  poor  sick  nigger!  My  poor  chile's 
sick  too!  Missis  thinks  its  dyin' !  O  master,  for 
the  love  of  God,  don't  cut  a  poor  distressed  woman 
wid  your  whip!  I'll  try  to  do  better,  ef  you'll 
only  let  me  off  this  once!' 

"These  piteous  plaints  only  roused  the  ire  of 
their  cruel  task-masters,  who  sometimes  knocked 
them  down  in  the  midst  of  their  pleadings.  One 
beautiful  Sabbath  morning,  I  stood  on  the  levee 
at  Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  and  counted  twenty- 
seven  sugar  houses  in  full  blast.  I  found  the 
Negroes  were  compelled  to  labor  eighteen  hours 
per  day,  and  were  not  permitted  to  rest  on  the 
Sabbath  during  the  rolling  season.      The  Negroes 


i82  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

of  most  plantations  have  a  truck  patch,  which  they 
cultivate  on  the  Sabbath.  I  have  pointed  out  the 
sin  of  thus  laboring  on  Sunday,  but  they  plead 
necessity;  their  children,  they  stated,  must  suffer 
from  hunger  if  they  did  not  cultivate  their  truck 
patch,  and  their  masters  would  not  give  them 
time  on  any  other  day. 

"Negroes,  by  law,  are  prohibited  from  learning 
to  read.  This  law  was  not  strictly  enforced  in  Ten- 
nessee and  some  other  states  till  within  a  few 
years  past.  I  had  charge  of  a  Sabbath  school  for 
the  instruction  of  the  blacks  in  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see, in  1853.  This  school  was  put  down  by  the 
strong  arm  of  the  law  in  a  short  time  after  my 
connection  with  it  ceased.  In  Mississippi  a  man 
who  taught  slaves  to  read  or  write  would  be  sent 
to  the  penitentiary  instanter.  The  popular  plea  for 
this  wickedness  is  that  if  they  were  taught  to  read 
they  would  read  the  abolition  documents;  and  if 
they  were  taught  to  write,  they  would  write  them- 
selves passes,  and  pass  northward  to  Canada.  Such 
advertisements  as  the  following  often  greet  the  eye: 
'Kansas  War. — The  undersind  taks  this  metod  of 
makkin  it  noan  that  he  has  got  a  pack  of  the  best 
nigger  hounds  in  the  South.  My  hounds  is  well 
trand,  and  I  has  had  much  experience  a  huntin 
niggers,  havin  follered  it  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 
I  will  go  anywhar  that  I'm  sent  for,  and  will  ketch 
niggers  at  the  follerin  raits.  My  raits  fur  ketchin 
runaway  niggers  $10  per  hed,  ef  they's  found  in 
the  beat  whar  thar  master  lives, $1  5  if  they's  found 
in  the  county  and  $50  if  they's  tuck  out  on  the 
county.  N.  B. — Pay  is  due  when  the  nigger  v^ 
tuck.  Planters  ort  to  send  fur  me  as  soon  as  thar 
riggers  runs  away,  while  thar  track  is  fresh.' 


DR.  JOHN  R.  FRANCIS, 
Graduate  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Michigan,  and  One  of  the  Best  Known 
Physicians  in  Washington,  D.  C. 


183 


i84  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

"Every  night  the  woods  resound  with  the  deep- 
mouthed  baying  of  the  bloodhounds.  The  slaves 
are  said  by  some  to  love  their  masters;  but  it  re- 
quires the  terrors  of  bloodhounds  and  the  fugitive 
slave  law  to  keep  them  in  bondage.  You  in  the 
Norih  are  compelled  to  act  the  part  of  the  blood- 
hounds here,  and  catch  the  fugitives  for  the  plant- 
ers of  the  South.  Free  Negroes  are  sold  into 
bondage  for  the  most  trivial  offenses;  slaveholders 
declare  that  the  presence  of  free  persons  of  color 
exerts  pernicious  influence  upon  their  slaves. 
They  therefore  are  very  desirous  of  getting  rid  of 
these  persons,  either  by  banishing  from  the  state  or 
enslaving  them.  The  Legislature  of  Mississippi 
and  other  states  passed  laws  for  their  expulsion. 
The  Governor  of  Missouri  vetoed  the  law  in  that 
state,  on  the  grounds  that  it  was  unconstitutional. 
The  question  is  often  asked.  Is  slavery  sinful  in 
itself.-^  My  observation  has  been  extensive,  em- 
bracing eight  slave  states,  and  I  have  never  yet 
seen  any  example  of  slavery  that  did  not  seem 
sinful.  If  slavery  is  not  sinful  in  itself,  1  must 
have  always  seen  it  out  of  itself.  I  have  observed 
its  workings  during  eleven  years  among  a  profess- 
edly Christian  people,  and  pronounce  it  an  unmit- 
igated curse. 

"John  H.  Aughey. 
"To  Mr.    William  Jackman, 
"Amsterdam, 

"Jefferson  County,  Ohio." 


CHAPTER  XL 
UNDERGROUND  RAILROADS. 


The  necessity  for  this  so-called  "Railroad"  grew 
out  of  the  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of 
1850,  which  established  courts  and  commissioners 
unknown  to  the  constitution,  and  was  certainly 
the  most  inhuman  law  passed  by  a  civilized  coun- 
try in  the  nineteenth   century. 

The  most  common  act  of  benevolence  to  a  fugi- 
tive slave  had  to  be  kept  a  profound  secret.  The 
penalty  for  giving  or  selling  a  meal  to  one  of  the 
passengers  on  this  Road,  or  helping  them  on  their 
way,  was  imprisonment  and  one  thousand  dollars 
fine;  while  those  who  aided  and  encouraged 
slaves  to  escape,  were  subject  to  a  long  term  in 
the  penitentiary. 

Naturally  when  the  better  element  of  the  people 
found  that  this  infamous  law,  passed  at  the  dic- 
tation of  the  slave  power,  was  diametrically  op- 
posed to  the  golden  rule,  and  the  example  of  Him 
who  "went  about  doing  good,"  they  believed  with 
Xhe  apostles  that  they  "ought  to  obey  God  rather 

185 


i86  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

than  men,"  and  rightly  spurned  this  law  by  hero- 
ically helping  the  poor  bondmen  to  the  free  states 
and  Canada,  the  Mecca  of  the  fleeing  slaves.  The 
result  was  a  spontaneous  uprising  and  banding  to- 
gether of  determined  men  and  women  from  Maine 
to  Kansas,  with  many  stations  and  starting  points 
through  the  South,  which  on  account  of  its  rapid 
transit,  unity  of  action  and  secret  operation,  was 
called  the  Underground  Railroad.  There  is  said 
to  have  been  four  main  trunk  lines  across  the 
state  of  New  York,  and  several  through  Ohio  and 
southern  Michigan.  But  how  was  it  operated.'' 
Like  other  railroads,  it  had  its  officers,  engineers, 
conductors,  ticket  agents,  train  dispatchers,  sta- 
tions, hotels  and  lunch  counters.  Its  business 
was  conducted  with  great  harmony,  profound  se- 
crecy and  perfect  fidelity. 

Unlike  other  railroads,  when  it  ceased  to  exist, 
it  divided  its  immense  profits  among  its  passengers, 
who  invested  it  in  large  tracts  of  land  in  Canada, 
in  building  dwellings,  barns,  churches,  school- 
houses,  factories  of  all  kinds,  and  in  stocking,  im- 
proving and  cultivating  farms. 

The  poor  slaves,  groaning  under  cruel  bondage, 
and  sighing  for  freedom,  often  heard  of  this  Road 
•n  various  ways;  sometimes  a  Northern  traveler 
'vould  show  them  how  to  find  the  north  star  and 
hint  that  in  that  direction  lay  liberty,  and  that  he 
vrould  find  friends  to  help  him  on  his  way.  Fre- 
q'uently  a  slave  who  had  escaped  would  get  a 
f.dend  to  write  back  to  a  benevolent  neighbor, 
and  tell  him  all  about  it,  who,  in  turn,  would  in- 
form the  Negroes  of  his  neighborhood.  But  more 
often    they  found  out    about  this    Road  by  a  per- 


GEO.  W.  WILLIAMS. 


i^7. 


i88  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

fectly  organized  system  of  communication  and  co- 
operation,  established   even  in  the  South. 

There  have  always  been  scattered  throughout 
the  South  people  who  hated  slavery,  and  had 
compassion  on  the  poor  victims  of  this  American 
despotism.  Such  individuals  have  known,  or 
made  it  a  point  to  find  out  and  communicate  with 
others  of  "like  faith  and  order,"  northward  of 
them  at  convenient  stages,  who  had  acquaintances 
in  the  free  states,  and  could  be  depended  upon  to 
help  the  fugitive  on  his  way  to  freedom. 

Thus  lines  were  formed  from  the  South  to  the 
very  borders  of  Canada,  and  while  they  may  have 
been  more  or  less  zigzag,  they  always  trended 
northward  and  the  fleeing  black  man  found  them 
safe  and  reliable.  If  he  succeeded  in  escaping 
his  pursuers  until  he  reached  the  second  or  third 
station,  he  was  seldom  overtaken. 

Samuel  J.  May  estimates  that  more  than  twenty 
thousand  found  homes  in  Canada,  while  hundreds 
ventured  to  remain  in  the  free  states.  The  busi- 
ness was  managed  with  such  prudence  and  cau- 
tiousness that  few  of  those  engaged  in  it  realized 
the  penalties  provided.  Yet  some  of  the  noblest 
of  earth  suffeied  martyrdom,  as  victims  of  the 
cruel  fugitive  slave  law. 

Rev.  John  Rankin,  of  Ohio,  was  fined  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  besides  serving  a  term  in  prison.  Rev, 
C.  T.  Torry  died  in   a  Virginia  prison. 

W.  L.  Chaplin, of  Massachusetts,  became  editor 
of  the  Albany  Patriot  in  1844.  In  1850,  while  in 
Washington  as  correspondent  for  his  own  paper, 
he  was  induced  to  aid  two  young  men,  slaves  of 
Robert  Toombs    and    Alexander   H.   Stephens   of 


A  NEW  CENTURY  189 

Georgia,  to  escape.  Surprised  in  the  act,  he  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned,  charged  with  abducting 
slaves.  Having  been  a  prisoner  five  months,  he 
was  released  on  the  enormous  bail  of  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars.  Knowing  that  if  convicted  he 
would  certainly  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  a 
long  term  of  years  or  perhaps  for  life,  his  friends 
decided  that  the  bail  must  be  forfeited  and  paid. 
His  own  little  property  was  sacrificed,  and  this 
large  amount  was  finally  raised,  mainly  through 
the  princely  beneficence  of  that  grand  philan- 
thropist, Gerrit  Smith. 

Calvin  Fairbank  spent  seventeen  years  and  four 
months  in  the  Kentucky  penitentiary  at  Frankfort 
for  the  glorious  crime  of  "Nigger  Stealing."  During 
this  time,  he  is  said  to  have  received  thirty-five 
thousand  stripes  on  his  bared  body. 

About  the  year  1840  Captain  Jonathan  Walker 
of  Massachusetts  took  a  contract  to  build  a  section 
of  a  proposed  railroad  in  Florida,  employing  a 
number  of  Negroes  in  its  construction.  Being  a 
Christian  and  kind-hearted  man  he  treated  his  men 
with  kindness,  permitting  them  to  eat  at  the  same 
table  with  himself,  and  bow  the  knee  to  a  com- 
mon heavenly  Father  around  a  common  altar.  As 
a  natural  consequence,  he  gained  the  respect  and 
love  of  his  men,  who  in  1844  persuaded  him  to 
aid  them  in  an  attempt  to  escape  in  an  open  boat 
to  an  island  not  far  distant,  belonging  to  England. 

All  went  well  until  the  captain  was  taken  vio- 
lently sick,  and  the  fugitives,  having  no  knowledge 
of  navigation,  were  at  the  mercy  of  wind  and 
wave,  until  picked  up  by  the  crew  of  a  wrecking 
sloop   and    conveyed  to  Key  West,  where  he  was 


190  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

imprisoned,  until  sent  to  Pensacola.  Arriving 
here,  he  was  chained  to  the  floor  of  a  cell,  where 
two  days  before  a  man  had  committed  suicide, 
the  floor  being  still  covered  with  blood. 

In  his  trial  in  the  United  States  court,  he  was 
sentenced  "to  be  branded  on  the  right  hand  with 
the  capital  letters,  'S.  S.'  ;  to  stand  in  the  pillory 
one  hour;  to  pay  as  many  fines  as  there  were  slaves 
'stolen;'  to  suffer  as  many  terms  imprisonment; 
to  pay  the  costs,  and  to  stand  committed  until  the 
fines  were  paid." 

The  execution  of  these  sentences  began  at  once. 
The  initials  of  the  words  "Slave  Stealer"  were 
branded  upon  his  hand,  by  a  brutal  United  States 
marshal.  He  stood  an  hour  in  the  pillory,  during 
which,  while  utterly  helpless,  he  was  pelted  with 
rotten  eggs  by  a  cowardly,  renegade  "Northern 
man  with  Southern  principles." 

He  was  now  sent  to  prison,  where  he  remained 
eleven  months  with  a  heavy  chain  on  his  leg,  which 
was  never  removed  even  for  changing  his  cloth- 
ing. Money  was  raised  by  his  friends  to  pay  his 
fines  and  he  was  liberated  in  1845. 

The  effort  thus  made  to  stigmatize  and  heap 
odium  upon  this  noble  hero  and  philanthropist, 
recoiled  on  the  national  Government,  whose  craven 
cowardice  and  heartless  ignominy  was  alone 
responsible  for  it.  Whittier  enshrined  this  event  in 
a  grand  patriotic  poem,  and  completely  turned  the 
tables,  making  "S.  S."  a  badge  of  honor  indicative 
of  the  "heroic  spirit  of  an  earlier, better  day." 

"Then  lift  that  manly  right  hand,   bold  plowman  of  the  wave, 
its  branded  palm  shall  prophesy  Salvation  to  the  Slave; 
Hold  up  its  fire-wrought   language,    that  whoso  reads  may  feel 
His  heart  swell  strong  within  him,  his  sinews  change  to  steel. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  191 

Hold  itnp  before  our  sunshine,  up  against  our  Northern  air. 
Ho!  men  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  love  of  God  look  there! 
Take  it  henceforth  for  your  stan  dard,  like  the  Bruec's  heart  of 

yore; 
In  the  dark  strife  closing  round  ye,  let  that  hand  be  seen  before." 

According  to  Henry  Wilson,  Thomas  Garrett,  a 
Quaker  of  Delaware,  was  the  most  prominent  and 
successful  agent  of  the  Underground  Railroad, 
continuing  the  good  work  for  more  than  fifty  years; 
he  assisted  nearly  three  thousand  slaves  to  escape 
from  bondage.  During  this  long  time  he  kept 
open  house  for  the  poor  fugitives,  and  was  con- 
sidered the  good  Samaritan  of  the  Delaware.  In 
1848  James  Bayard,  afterwards  United  States 
senator,  headed  a  prosecution  against  him  before 
Judge  Taney,  for  abducting  two  slave  children. 
Of  course  he  was  convicted — they  invariably  were, 
and  lined  so  heavily  as  to  sweep  all  his  property 
away,  rendering  him  almost  penniless  at  the  age 
of  sixty.  When  the  auctioneer  had  knocked  cff 
his  last  piece  of  property  to  pay  the  fines,  he  re- 
marked that  he  hoped  he  would  "never  be  guilty 
of  doing  the  like  again."  To  which  the  good 
Quaker  replied,  "Friend,!  haven't  a  dollar  in  the 
world,  but  if  thee  knows  a  fugitive  who  needs  a 
breakfast, send  him  to  me."  Never  was  a  grander 
sentence  uttered,  and  we  doubt  not  the  angel  in 
heaven  recorded  it  with  a  smile  of  approval. 

It  is  gratifying  to  read  that  he  outlived  the  cruel 
system  which  converted  his  neighbors  into  perse- 
cutors; that,  like  Job  of  old,  he  was  more  pros- 
perous in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  than  ever  be- 
fore, living  to  a  ripe  old  age  in  peace  and  tran- 
quility.     And    when    he    passed  away,  the  whole 


192  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

community  realized  that  they  had  sustained  the 
irreparable  loss  of  one  of  God's  noblemen.  He 
chose  for  his  pallbearers,  representatives  of  the 
race  for  whom  he  had  spent  his  life. 

Levi  Coffin  of  Cincinnati,  another  Quaker,  was 
familiarly  called  the  President  of  this  Road  ;  he  was 
a  man  of  high  social  position  and  sterling  worth. 
It  is  estimated  that  he  has  been  instrumental  in 
aiding  between  two  and  three  thousand  slaves  to 
escape. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  those  who  man- 
aged this  Road  were,  for  the  most  part,  philan- 
thropists and  noble  Christian  men  and  women; 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  slave  hunters  and  over- 
seers were,  with  an  occasional  exception,  as  cruel 
and  remorseless  as  their  own  bloodhounds. 

The  managers  availed  themselves  of  a  great 
variety  of  facilities  for  traveling;  lumber-wagons, 
carriages,  stage-coaches,  canal,  ferry  and  steam- 
boats, also  ships  and  railroads,  were  all  used  when 
needed. 

Sometimes  in  the  Southern  cities  such  precau- 
tions were  taken  as  to  render  it  next  to  impossible 
for  a  slave  to  escape  detection.  Even  then  he 
did  not  despair,  but  would  risk  his  life  for  a  pros- 
pect of  liberty,  by  getting  his  friends  to  box  him 
up  and  send  him  to  a  Northern  city  as  express  or 
freight. 

William  Still,  colored,  has  written  the  best  his- 
tory of  the  Underground  Road  we  have  seen.  In 
it  he  mentions  several  who  were  boxed  up  and  so 
escaped  in  spite  of  extra  vigilance.  William  Box 
Peel  Jones  arrived  at  Philadelphia  from  Baltimore 
in  1859.     He  belonged  to  one  Robert  Carr,  a  gro- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  193 

cer  and  commission  merchant,  who  had  sold  a 
number  of  slaves,  one  at  a  time,  and  William 
preferred  the  box  to  the  auction  block.  He  was  a 
little  unfortunate  in  the  choice  of  a  box,  there  not 
being  sufficient  room  to  straighten  out  his  legs; 
the  cramped  position  causing  such  intense  pain  he 
was  almost  forced  to  scream  out.  At  last  he 
fainted  away,  but  when  he  revived  the  pain  was 
less  intense.  Arriving  in  Philadelphia  Sunday 
morning,  just  seventeen  hours  from  starting,  he 
was  met  by  the  same  friend  who  had  boxed  him 
up,  he  having  come  through  on  the  cars.  Although 
it  was  Sunday  morning, this  friend  managed  to  get 
his  piece  of  freight  from  the  vessel.  His  joy  was 
very  great  on  being  released,  and  as  soon  as  he 
had  recovered  sufficient  strength  and  use  of  his 
limbs  he  was  on  his  way  to  Canada,  the  friend  re- 
turning to  Baltimore. 

Henry  Box  Brown  was  boxed  up  in  Richmond, 
Virginia,  by  his  friend  James  A.  Smith.  The  ex- 
act size  of  the  box  was  two  feet  eight  inches  deep, 
two  feet  wide,  and  three  feet  long.  Having  been 
supplied  with  a  large  gimlet,  a  bladder  of  water, 
and  a  few  biscuits,  he  got  inside,  was  nailed  up, 
and  live  hickory  hoops  were  put  around  the  box. 
It  was  now  marked,  '*Wm.  H.  Johnson,  Arch 
Street,  Philadelphia.  This  side  up  with  care," 
and  sent  by  Adams  Express.  Sometimes  the 
notice,  "This  side  up  with  care,"  did  not  avail;  for 
miles  he  was  on  his  head.  At  last,  after  twenty- 
six  long  weary  hours,  the  box  and  contents  arrived 
at  its  destination. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Mr.  McKim, 
a  member  of  the  vigilance  com^Yiittee  in  Philadel- 


194  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

phia,  received  the  following  telegram:  "Your  case 
of  goods  is  shipped  and  will  arrive  to-morrow 
morning  early."  The  box  was  brought  at  once  to 
the  anti-slavery  office,  where  William  Still,  Prof. 
C.  D.  Cleveland  and  Lewis  Thompson  were  in- 
vited to  be  present  at  the  "opening."  When  all 
was  ready  Mr.  McKim  rapped  quietly  on  the  lid 
of  the  box  and  called  out,  "All  right!"  Instantly 
came  the  answer,  "All  right,  sir!"  Soon  the  hick- 
ory hoops  were  cut,  the  top  of  the  box  removed, 
when  he  arose,  ringing  wet  with  perspiration,  and 
said,  "How  do  you  do,  gentlemen.?" 

After  resting  a  few  moments  he  remarked  that 
before  leaving  Richmond  he  had  selected  for  his 
arrival  hymn,  if  he  lived,  the  Psalm  beginning, 
"I  waited  patiently  for  the  Lord,  and  He  heard 
my  prayer."  Most  feelingly  did  he  sing  the  hymn, 
to  the  delight  of  his  small  audience. 

After  spending  some  time  resting  and  straighten- 
ing his  limbs  at  the  hospitable  home  of  James  and 
Lucretia  Mott,  and  remaining  two  days  with  Wm. 
Still,  he  left  for  Boston.  Mr.  Samuel  A.  Smith, 
the  shoe  dealer,  who  boxed  him  up  in  Richmond, 
did  the  same  thing  for  two  others,  but  was  de 
tected  and  spent  seven  years  in  the  Virginia  peni- 
tentiary, a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the 
Baltimore  Sun:  "One  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
reward.  Ran  away  from  the  subscriber  Sunday 
night,  twenty-seventh  inst.,  my  Negro  girl  Lear 
Green,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  black  com- 
plexion, round  features,  good-looking  and  ordi- 
nary size;  she  had  on  and  with  her  when  she  left 
a  tan-colored  silk  bonnet, a  plaid  silk  dress,  a  light 


A  NEW  CENTURY  195 

muslin  de  laine,  a]so  one  watered  silk  cape,  and 
one  tan- colored  cape.  I  have  reason  to  be  confident 
that  she  was  persuaded  off  by  a  Negro  man  named 
William  Adams;  black,  quick-spoken,  five  feet  ten 
inches  high,  a  large  scar  on  one  side  of  his  face, 
running  down  in  a  ridge  by  the  corner  of  his 
mouth,  about  four  inches  long,  barber  by  trade, 
but  works  mostly  about  taverns,  opening  oysters, 
etc.  He  has  been  missing  about  a  week;  he  had 
been  heard  to  say  he  was  going  to  marry  the  above 
girl  and  ship  to  New  York,  where,  it  is  said,  his 
mother  resides.  The  above  reward  will  be  paid 
if  the  said  girl  is  taken  out  of  the  state  of  Mary- 
land and  returned  to  me;  or  fifty  dollars  if  taken 
in  the  state  of  Maryland.  James  Noble,  No.  153 
Broadway,  Baltimore." 

Lear  Green,  so  particulary  described  in  this  ad- 
vertisement, deserved  to  be  ranked  among  the 
heroines  of  this  century.  She  is  said  to  have  been 
a  *'dark  brown  color,"  instead  of  "black,"  (fear  of 
complimenting  a  slave  often  led  to  a  false  descrip- 
tion) and  possessed  a  countenance  of  peculiar  mod- 
esty and  grace.  Her  young  mistress  was  very  ex- 
acting and  overbearing  towards  her;so  she  resolved 
to  take  the  advice  of  her  lover,  William  Adams, 
and  thereby  gain  her  freedom  and  a  husband  at 
the  same  time.  All  the  avenues  of  travel  at  this 
time  were  so  closely  guarded  there  seemed  but 
one  chance  to  escape,  the  trial  of  which  required 
heroic  courage.  But  it  was  decided  to  make  this 
attempt,  for  what  will  a  woman  not  encounter  or 
what  obstacles  will  she  not  overcome  for  the 
double  motive  of  love   and   a  prospect  of   liberty.? 

An  old  sailor's  chest   was  procured;  a  qi7'it,    a 


196  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

pillow  and  a  few  articles  of  clothing,  with  a  small 
quantity  of  food  and  a  bottle  cf  water,  were  put 
into  it,  and  Lear  getting  inside,  the  top  was  closed 
and  strong  ropes  tied  around  it,  leaving  a  small 
crevice  between  the  edge  of  the  chest  and  the  top. 
The  chest  with  its  contents  was  soon  stored  away 
among  ordinary  freight  on  one  of  the  Ericson 
line  of  steamers. 

The  mother  of  her  intended,  a  free  woman, 
agreed  to  come  as  a  passenger  on  the  same  boat 
and  look  after  this  precious  piece  of  freight. 

The  rules  of  the  company  assigned  colored  pas- 
sengers to  the  deck,  which  was  the  very  place  this 
woman  wanted,  so  as  to  be  as  near  the  chest  as 
possible.  During  the  night,  when  all  was  still, 
she  could  not  refrain  from  opening  the  lid  a  little 
to  see  if  her  charge  lived,  and  give  her  a  breath 
of  fresh  air. 

At  the  end  of  eighteen  hours  they  landed  at 
Philadelphia.  Soon  the  chest  and  living  freight 
were  taken  to  the  home  of  friends  of  the  mother, 
on  Barley  Street.  Later  the  chest  and  its  late 
occupant  were  removed  to  the  residence  of  William 
Still,  who  had  her  photographed  in  the  chest. 
In  due  time  she  was  sent  on  to  Elmira,  New  York, 
where  she  married  her  lover,  William  Adams,  and 
they  lived  happily  together  in  that  city. 

E.  M.  Pettit,  in  his  ''Sketches  of  the  Under- 
ground Railroad,"  mentions  a  number  of  interest- 
ing escapes,  among  the  rest  that  of  a  mother  and 
little  daughter  seven  years  of  age,  named  respec- 
tively Statie  and  Lila,  who  escaped  in  a  box  from 
Washington,  D.  C,  to  Warsaw,  New  York.  Statie 
was  a  very  proficient  house  servant,  belonging    to 


A  NEW  CENTURY  i97 

a  man  by  the  name  of  Limes,  living  just  opposite 
Washington  on  the  Virginia  side.  Her  master, 
owning  more  slaves  than  he  could  employ,  hired 
out  a  number  of  them,  their  wages  constituting  his 
income.  Statie  was  allowed  to  hire  herself  out  on 
condition  that  she  paid  her  master  ten  dollars  a 
month,  and  furnished  clothing  for  her  little  girl, 
who,  like  the  mother,  was  nearly  white,  and  quite 
attractive. 

At  first  she  hired  herself  to  a  farmer  named  Bar- 
bour, who  was  very  kind  to  her  and  the  child. 
Afterwards  being  offered  much  larger  wages  by  a 
hotel  keeper  in  Washington,  she  accepted  the 
place,  hoping  to  save  enough  money  to  buy  her 
child's  freedom.  She  would  return  to  her  master 
every  three  months,  to  see  her  child  and  pay  him 
the  wages.  On  one  of  these  trips  she  learned  of  his 
intention  to  sell  her  little  girl,  and  resolved  at 
once  to  make  her  escape  and  take  the  child  with 
her. 

With  the  aid  of  her  kind  friend  Mr.  Barbour,  a 
plan  was  soon  arranged.  It  happened  that  Bar- 
bour had  formerly  lived  in  New  York,  and  he  now 
told  his  neighbors  he  was  going  to  make  a  visit  to 
his  friends  in  that  state.  He  had  a  splendid  team, 
and  a  good  strong  spring-wagon.  Procuring  a  box 
to  fit  his  wagon,  he  put  into  it  straw  and  quilts, 
plenty  of  provision  and  water. 

According  to  previous  appointment,  he  met  the 
mother  and  daughter  at  night  j  ust  outside  of  Wash- 
ington, and  Statie  and  Lila  were  soon  comfortably 
stored  away,  en  route  towards  the  north  star.  Mr. 
Barbour  passed  himself  off  for  a  Yankee  clock 
peddler,  a  veritable    Sam    Slick,  and    as    he  paid 


198  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

his  hotel  bills,  drove  a  good  wagon  and  team,  no 
questions  were  asked.  When  out  of  sight  of  settle- 
ments, the  fugitives  would  sometimes  get  out  to 
pick  berries,  and  when  it  was  safe  to  do  so,  would 
walk  about  in  the  night  for  exercise.  Thus  they 
ma  'e  the  long  journey  through  Pennsylvania  to 
Warsaw,  New  York.  Here  he  met  Col.  Charles 
O.  Shepard  of  Attica,  a  popular  member  of  the 
State  Senate,  who  was  there  attending  court.  Col. 
Shepard  was  the  very  agent  of  the  Underground 
Railroad  he  was  in  quest  of;  so  Mr.  Barbour  gave 
his  two  passengers  mto  his  keeping,  and  he  took 
them  to  Attica  when  he  returned. 

On  account  of  its  having  been  published  in  the 
papers,  the  master  heard  of  them  and  employed 
slave-hunters  to  recapture  and  return  them.  But 
the  men  he  sent  were  almost  m.obbed,  so  were  glad 
to  return  without  them.  So  mother  and  daughter 
lived  happily  together  in  Wyoming  County,  New 
York. 

A  gentleman  took  his  little  daughter  with  him 
to  the  Legislative  Hall  at  Springfield  to  hear  Owen 
Lovejoy  make  his  great  speech  in  favor  of  the  bill 
to  repeal  the  "black  law"  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Lovejoy  showed  that  he  had  much  of  the 
same  spirit  of  his  martyred  brother  Elijah  P.,  by 
denouncing  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  as  not  only 
unjust  and  wicked,  unnatural  and  dangerous  to 
the  stability  of  a  free  government,  but  also  degrad- 
ing and  an  outrage  on  every  principle  of  humanity 
and  religion.  He  endorsed  the  Underground  Road 
in  all  its  principles  and  results,  and  closed  his 
speech  with  the  following  immortal  words:  "In  so 
doing  I  accept  the    consequences  of  wicked  legis- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  199 

riation,  and  let  it  be  known  that  Owen  Lovejoy, 
of  Princeton,  Bureau  County,  Illinois,  will  hold 
himself  ready  at  all  times  to  give  advice,  food, 
shelter  and  aid  in  every  possible  way  in  the  pursuit 
of  freedom,  to  any  poor,  panting  fugitive  from  the 
horrors  of  American  slavery,  so  help  me  Almighty 
God." 

On  their  way  home  the  little  girl  asked,  "Is 
that  man  an  abolitionist?"  "Yes,"  said  he.  "Well, 
papa,  are  you  an  abolitionist  too?"  "Yes,"  he 
replied,  "but  I  was  such  a  fool  I  did  not  know  it!" 

What  Lovejoy  thus  expressed  was  the  senti- 
ment of  thousands  of  people  of  the  free  states, 
who  regarded  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  as  little  short 
of  an  indirect  attempt  to  abolish  Christianity,  and 
as  absurd  as  the  Pope's  Bull    against  the    comet. 

Mr.  Pettit  related  the  following  interesting  story 
of  Margaret,  who,  with  her  mother,  was  owned  by 
a  family  who  gave  her  religious  instruction,  and 
she  became  very  pious.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  she 
went  with  her  young  mistress,  who  had  married 
a  planter  living  on  the  "Eastern  Shore."  Margaret 
married  at  the  age  of  twenty;  but  in  less  than  a 
year  her  husband  was  torn  from  her  frantic  em- 
brace and  sold  South. 

She  incurred  the  displeasure  of  her  master  by 
grieving  over  her  fondly  cherished  husband,  and 
refusing  to  take  another.  In  order  to  break  her 
spirit,  and  bring  her  to  terms,  he  put  her  into  the 
tobacco  field  and  instructed  his  brutal  overseer  to 
work  her  to  the  utmost  of  her  ability,  which  com- 
mand was  enforced  up  to  the  day  of  the  birth  of 
her  child.  At  the  end  of  one  week  she  was  driven 
again  to  the  field  and  compelled  to  perform  a  full 


200  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

task.  It  WE.S  customary  at  this  time  to  have  nur- 
series on  the  plantation, presided  over  by  aged  and 
decrepit  slaves,  where  mothers  could  leave  their 
infants  during  working  hours.  But  this  privilege 
was  denied  to  Margaret;  she  was  obliged  to  leave 
her  child  under  the  shade  of  a  bush  in  the  field, 
returning  to  it  but  twice  during  the  long  day. 

On  going  to  the  child  one  evening,  she  found  it 
apparently  insensible,  exhausted  with  crying,  and 
a  large  serpent  lying  across  it.  Although  she  felt 
it  would  be  better  for  both  herself  and  child  if  it 
were  dead,  yet  her  mother's  heart  impelled  her 
to  make  an  effort  to  save  it,  so  by  caressing  and 
careful  handling  she  revived  it.  As  soon  as  she 
heard  its  feeble  wailing  cry,  she  vowed  to  deliver 
her  boy  from  the  cruel  power  of  slavery  or  die  in 
the  attempt.  Falling  en  her  knees  like  Hannah 
of  old,  she  gave  the  child  into  God's  keeping,  and 
prayed  for  strength  to  enable  her  to  perform  her 
vow,  for  grace  and  patience  to  sustain  her  in 
suffering,  toil,  and  hunger.  Then  pressing  the  child 
to  her  bosom,  she  fled  with  all  speed,  her  course 
being  northward.  Having  gone  a  mile  or  two, 
she  was  overtaken  by  Watch,  the  old  house  dog. 
Watch  was  a  large  mastiff,  somewhat  old,  but  he 
and  Margaret  had  become  great  friends.  She 
feared  it  would  not  be  safe  to  let  him  go  with  her; 
still  the  dog  had  determined  to  go,  and  a  mastiff 
has  a  will  of  his  own,  so  she  resumed  her  flight 
followed  by  her  faithful  escort. 

At  daybreak  she  hid  herself  in  the  border  of  a 
plantation,  and  was  soon  asleep.  At  dusk  she 
was  aroused  by  the  noise  of  slaves  returning  to 
their    quarters.      Seeing    a  woman    linger  behind, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  201 

she  went  up  to  her  and  telling  her  troubles,  asked 
for  food.  About  midnight  the  woman  returned 
with  a  supply, which  she  divided  with  Watch,  and 
immediately  started  on  her  journey. 

The  second  day  after  she  left,  a  slave-hunter, 
with  his  dogs,  was  employed  to  catch  and  return 
her.  He  started  with  a  dog  and  three  puppies, 
thinking,  no  doubt,  that  as  the  game  was  only  a 
woman  and  baby  it  would  be  a  good  time  to  train 
the  young  dogs.  He  did  not  find  her  as  easily  as  he 
expected,  however,  but  about  noon  of  the  second 
day  the  old  dog  struck  her  trail  where  Margaret 
had  made  her  little  camp  the  day  before;  so  she 
bounded  off  with  renewed  vigor,  leaving  the  man 
and  puppies  far  in  the  rear.  The  puppies  soon 
lost  the  trail  where  Margaret  forded  the  streams, 
and  the  old  dog  was  miles  away,  leaving  the  hunter 
without  a  guide.  Meantime  Margaret  had  been 
lying  in  the  woods  on  the  banks  of  a  river,intend- 
ing  to  start  again  as  soon  as  it  was  dark,  when  she 
was  startled  by  the  whining  and  nervous  action  of 
Watch,  and  listening,she  heard  the  distant  bay  of 
a  bloodhound.  The  peril  of  her  situation  now 
flashed  upon  her.  She  expected  to  witness  the 
mangling  of  her  babe  by  the  savage  brute,  and 
then  be  torn  to  pieces  herself.  But  she  did  not 
lose  presence  of  mind,  however,  and  determined 
to  sell  her  life  and  that  of  her  child  as  dearly  as 
possible;  she  fastened  him  to  her  shoulder,  and 
procuring  a  stout  club  waded  out  as  far  as  she 
could  into  the  river  or  inlet,  which  was  too  wije 
and  deep  to    ford  at  this    point. 

Meantime  the  mastiff  lay  with  his  nose  between 
his  feet,  watching  the  coming  foe.    The  hound, ler- 


202  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

dered  more  fierce  by  the  fresh  track,  came  bound- 
ing on  wilh  her  nose  to  the  ground,  scenting  her 
prey,  and  seemed  not  to  see  Watch,  until,  leaping 
to  pass  over  him,  she  found  her  throat  seized  by 
the  massive  jaws  of  the  mastiff.  The  struggle  was 
terrible  but  brief,  for  the  mastiff  did  not  loosen 
his  jaws  until  the  hound  was  dead. 

Margaret  returned  to  the  bank  and  would  have 
embraced  her  brave  deliverer,  but  fearing  this  was 
but  the  advance  of  a  strong  pack,  she  threw  the 
dead  hound  into  the  river  and  pushed  on  up  the 
stream. 

A  few  hours  after  this  she  fell  in  with  friends, 
who  hid  her  several  days,  then  sent  her  to  Phila- 
delphia, from  there  to  New  York  City  over  the 
Underground  Road.  Here  she  became  a  cele- 
brated trained  nurse,  and  was  in  great  demand  by 
invalids.  She  made  a  host  of  friends  and  earned 
a  competency.  Renting  a  comfortable  house,  she 
kept  the  faithful  old  mastiff  until  he  died  of  old 
age  some  years  afterwards. 

Her  boy,  whom  curiously  enough,  like  Hannah 
of  old,  she  named  Samuel,  obtained  the  rudiments 
of  an  education  at  a  school  in  West  Chester 
County.  Afterwards,  at  the  home  of  Gerrit  Smith, 
he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  thorough  edu- 
cation; became  a  devoted  and  eloquent  minister 
of  the  gospel  in  the  Congregational  church.  Like 
his  mother,  he  was  so  black  it  was  said  to  grow 
dark  when  he  entered  a  room;  but  it  grew  light 
when  he  began  to  speak.  Samuel  afterwards 
went  to  England,  and  was  sent  by  the  British 
government  on  a  mission  of  importance  to  Jamaica. 

Samuel    J.     May,  in    his    "Recollections  of  the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  203 

Anti-Slavery  Conflict,"  mentions  several  interest- 
ing incidents  of  his  personal  experience  as  a  sta- 
tion agent.  "On  one  occasion,"  said  he,  "while 
living  at  Syracuse,  a  squalid  mortal  came  to  my 
back-door  with  a  note  stating  that  he  was  a  pas^ 
senger  on  the  Underground  Road.  'O  massa,' 
said  he,  ^I'm  not  fit  to  come  into  your  house.' 
'No,'  I  replied,  'you  are  not  now,  but  soon  shall 
be. '  So,  stepping  in,  I  got  a  tub  of  warm  water, 
with  towels  and  soap.  He  helped  me  with  them 
into  the  barn.  'There,'  said  I,  'give  yourself  a 
thorough  washing  and  throw  your  clothing  out 
upon  the  dirt  heap,'  He  set  about  his  task  with 
a  good  will,  and  I  returned  to  the  house  and  brought 
out  to  him  a  complete  outfit  of  clean  clothing, 
from  a  deposit  kept  supplied  by  my  parishioners. 
"He  received  each  article  with  unspeakable  thank- 
fulness, but  the  clean  white  shirt,  with  collar  and 
cravat,  delighted  him  above  measure.  I  found 
him  to  be  a  man  of  much  natural  intelligence,  but 
ignorant  of  letters.  He  had  had  a  very  hard  mas- 
ter and  exulted  on  his  new-found  freedom.  After 
remaining  with  me  two  days, he  went  on  to  Canada." 
Quite  a  contrast  is  shown  by  the  following  in- 
cident. One  Saturday  night  Mr.  May's  eldest  son 
came  to  the  parlor  door  and  said,  "Here,  father, 
is  another  living  epistle  to  you  from  the  South," 
and  ushered  in  a  fine  looking,  well  dressed  young 
man.  Mr.  May  took  his  hand  in  welcome  and 
said:  "But  this  is  not  the  hand  of  one  who  has 
been  doing  hard  work;  it  is  softer  than  mine." 
"No  sir,"  he  replied,  "I  have  not  been  allowed  to 
do  work  that  would  harden  my  hands.  I  have 
been  the  slave  of  a  very  wealthy  planter  in    Ken- 


204  ^  ^"EJV  NEGRO  FOR 

tucky,  who  kept  me  only  to  drive  the  carriage  for 
mistress  and  her  daughters,  to  wait  upon  them  at 
table  and  accompany  them  on  their  journeys.  I 
was  not  allowed  even  to  groom  the  horses,  and 
was  required  to  wear  gloves  when  I  drove." 

Mr.  May  noticed  he  used  good  language,  and 
pronounced  it  correctly,  and  remarked,  ''You  must 
have  received  some  instruction;  I  thought  the  laws 
of  the  slave  states  sternly  prohibited  the  teaching 
of  slaves."  "They  do,  sir,"  he  replied,  "but  my 
master  was  an  easy  man  in  that  respect.  My 
young  mistresses  taught  me  to  read,  and  got  me 
books  and  papers  from  their  father's  library.  I 
have  had  much  leisure  time  and  have  improved  it." 

By  further  conversation  it  was  shown  that  he 
was  familiar  with  a  considerable  number  of  the 
best  American  and  English  authors  in  poetry  and 
prose.  Mr.  May  now  asked,  "If  you  had  such  an 
easy  time,  and  were  so  much  favored,  why  did  you 
run  away.^"  "O,  sir,"  he  answered,  "slavery  at 
best  is  a  bitter  draught.  Under  the  most  favored 
circumstances,  it  is  bondage  and  degradation  still. 
I  often  writhed  in  my  chains,  though  they  sat  on 
me  so  lightly  compared  to  others.  I  was  often  on 
the  point  of  taking  wings  for  the  North,  but  the 
words  of  Hamlet  would  come  to  me,  'Better  to 
bear  those  ills  we  have, than  liy  to  others  we  know 
not  of,'  and  I  should  have  remained  with  my  mas- 
ter had  it  not  been  that  I  learned  a  few  weeks  ago 
he  was  about  to  sell  me  to  a  particular  friend  of 
his,  then  visiting  him  from  New  Orleans.  I  sus- 
pected this  evil  was  impending  over  me  from  the 
notice  the  gentleman  took  of  me  and  the  kind  of 
questions  he  asked  me. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  205 

"At  length,  one  of  my  young  mistresses,  who 
knew  my  dread  of  being  sold,  came  to  me,  and 
bursting  into  tears, said,  'Harry,  father  is  going  to 
sell  you!'  She  put  five  dollars  into  m.y  hand  and 
went  weeping  away.  With  that,  and  with  much 
more  money  I  had  received  from  time  to  time, 
and  saved  for  this  hour  of  need,  I  started  that 
night  and  reached  the  Ohio  River  before  morning. 
I  immediately  crossed  to  Cincinnati  and  hurried 
on  board  a  steamer,  the  steward  of  which  was  a 
black  man  of  my  acquaintance.  He  concealed 
me  until  the  boat  had  returned  to  Pittsburg. 
There  he  introduced  me  to  a  gentleman  he  knew 
to  be  friendly  to  us  colored  folks  That  gentle- 
man sent  me  to  a  friend  in  Meadville,  and  he  di- 
rected me  to  come  to  you." 

Mr.  May  told  him  that  since  he  was  a  coach- 
man and  waiter,  he  could  get  him  an  excellent 
situation  in  that  city;  which  would  enable  him  to 
live  comfortably  until  he  was  acquainted  with 
Northern  manners  and  customs,  and  something 
better  presented  itself.  But  Harry  hastily  replied, 
"O,  I  thank  you,  sir,  but  I  shall  not  dare  to  stop 
this  side  of  Canada.  My  master,  though  kind  to 
me,  is  a  proud  and  passionate  man.  He  will  never 
forgive  me  for  running  away.  He  has  already 
advertised  me,  offering  a  large  reward  for  my  ar- 
rest and  return  to  him.  I  am  not  safe  here  and 
must  go  to  Canada."  So  Monday  afternoon  he 
left  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  gentleman 
in  Kingston,  where  he  arrived  safely  in  a  few  days. 

Mr.  May  also  told  of  a  beautiful  octoroon  who 
came  to  him  from  New  Orleans.  Her  story  was 
about  as  follows;  "I  was  a  slave  in  New  Orleans; 


2o6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

my  master  was  concerned  in  a  line  of  packet  steam- 
ers that  ply  between  New  Orleans  and  Galves- 
ton. For  the  past  few  years  he  had  kept  me  on 
board  one  of  his  boats  as  the  chambermaid.  This 
was  rather  an  easy  and  not  a  disagreeable  position. 
I  was  very  attentive  to  the  lady  passengers,  es- 
pecially when  they  were  seasick,  and  made  many 
friends.  They  often  made  me  presents  of  clothes, 
trinkets  and  money,  and  what  was  better,  they 
taught  me  to  read.  At  each  end  of  the  route  I 
had  days  of  leisure,  which  I  improved  as  best  I 
could.  I  was  often  worried  by  the  thought  that  I 
was  a  slave,  but  as  I  was  comfortable  in  other 
respects,  1  might  have  remained  in  bondage,  had 
I  not  learned  that  my  master  was  about  to  sell 
me  to  a  dissolute  young  man,  and  I  knew  it  would 
be  a  life  much  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  bond- 
age I  then  endured;  so  at  once  I  determined  to 
escape. 

"Being  much  of  the  time  at  the  wharf  in  New 
Orleans,  I  could  readily  distinguish  the  vessels  of 
the  different  nations.  So  I  went  to  one  I  knew 
was  an  English  ship,  on  board  of  which  I  saw  a 
lady — the  captain's  wife.  Asking  and  obtaining 
permission  to  come  on  board,  and  encouraged  by 
her  kind  manner,  I  revealed  to  her  my  secret  and 
my  wish  to  escape.  She  could  hardly  be  persuaded 
that  I  was  a  slave,  being,  as  I  supposed,  the  child 
of  my  master;  but  when  all  doubt  was  removed 
she  readily  consented  to  take  me  with  her  to  New 
York. 

"I  succeeded  in  getting  what  money  had  saved 
an(3  all  my  clothes  on  board,  so  we  sailed  next 
day.     The  captain    was    equally  kind    and  I  was 


FERDINAND  L.  BARNETT, 

Assistant   State's  Attorney  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 


207 


2o8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

able  to  pay  as  much  as  he  would  take  for  my 
passage.  On  arriving  in  New  York  the  captain 
took  pains  to  inquire  for  abolitionists,  and  being 
directed  to  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan,  took  me  with  him 
to  the  good  gentleman.  Mr.  Tappan  provided 
for  my  safety  in  that  city,  and  the  next  day  sent 
me  to    Mr.  Myers  at  Albany,  on  my  way  to  you." 

Mr.  May  kindly  offered  to  find  her  a  place  in 
some  one  of  the  best  families  in  Syracuse;  but  she 
was  afraid  to  remain  there.  She  had  seen  in  New 
York  City  her  master's  advertisement  offering  five 
hundred  dollars  for  her  restoration  to  him.  She 
was  positive  there  were  slave-hunters  on  her  track. 
Two  men  in  the  train  between  Albany  and  Syra- 
cuse had  annoyed  and  alarmed  her  by  their  close 
observation.  One  had  seated  himself  by  her  side 
and  tried  to  engage  her  in  conversation,  and  to 
look  through  her  veil.  At  length  he  asked  her  to 
take  off  the  glove  of  her  left  hand;  by  this  she 
knew  that  he  had  seen  the  advertisement  stating 
that  one  finger  on  the  left  hand  was  minus  a  joint. 
Instead  of  complying  with  this  rude  request  she 
called  the  conductor,  who  gave  her  a  seat  by  a 
lady,  so  reached  Syracuse  in  safety. 

After  remaining  with  Mr.  May  several  days, 
passing  the  time  by  reading  French,  he  sent  her 
to  Kingston,  Canada,  where  she  was  no  longer  a 
slave,  but  as  God  intended,  enjoying  her  freedom. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
HEROES  AND  MARTYRS. 


On  a  marble  monument  at  Canton  Centre, 
New  York,  is  to  be  seen  this  inscription:  "in 
memory  of  Captain  John  Brown,  who  died  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  at  New  York,  September  3rd, 
1776.  He  was  the  fourth  generation  from  Peter 
Brown,  who  landed  from  the  Mayflower  at  Plym- 
outh, Massachusetts,  December  22,   1620." 

With  such  ancestors,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
could  hardly  fail  to  be  a  liberty-loving,  slavery- 
hating  patriot.  John  Brown,  known  in  history  as 
"Ossawatomie  Brown,"  was  born  in  Torrington, 
Connecticut,  May  9th,  1800.  He  was  nearly  six 
feet  tall,  slender,  wiry,  and  of  dark  complexion. 
His  brow  was  prominent,  with  slightly  Roman 
nose,  which  gave  him  quite  a  commanding  appear- 
ance. He  had  great  self-possession,  conscientious- 
ness and  strong  will-power.  He  was  quick  in  his 
motions  and  elastic  in  his  tread. 

When  Congress  gave  the  Free  State  settlers  of 
Kansas  no  protection,  but  was  in  reality  trying  to 
drag  the  territory  into  the  Union  with  a  slave 
constitution,  many  anti-slavery  men  rushed  into 
Kansas,  determined  to  maintain  their  rights  and 
dispute  every  inch  of  ground,  even  if  it  led  to  a 
border  war,  as  indeed  was    the    inevitable  result. 

209 


2IO  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Among  the  champions  of  freedom  who  went  to 
Kansas  were  John  Brown  and  his  sons.  He  was 
not  in  sympathy  with  either  of  the  anti-slavery 
or  pohtical  parties  then  in  existence,  but  with  his 
friends  and  followers  formed  a  little  party  of  his 
own  which  advocated  carrying  the  war  into  the 
enemies'  ranks,  and  aggressive  measures  for  the 
freedom  of  slaves.  In  a  speech  at  Ossawatomie 
about  this  time,  he  said:  "Talk  is  a  national  in- 
stitution,but  it  does  no  good  to  the  slaves."  He  also 
said  to  a  personal  friend:  "Young  men  must  learn 
to  wait.  Patience  is  the  hardest  lesson  to  learn.  I 
have  waited  twenty  years  to  accomplish  my  pur- 
pose." These  are  the  words  of  a  practical,  ju- 
dicious leader,  who  had  deep  convictions  of  duty, 
a  strong  hold  on  truth,  and  "a  conscience  void  of 
offense  towards  God  and  man."  In  short,  he  was 
a  born  ruler  and  leader  of  men,  but  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  be  a  little  in  advance  of  public  sen- 
timent on  the  question  of  how  to  get  rid  of  the 
hydra-headed  monster,  slavery. 

One  of  Captain  Brown's  most  successful  expe- 
ditions was  that  in  which  he  liberated  eleven  slaves 
in  Missouri,  conducted  them  through  Iowa  and 
Illinois  to  Canada,  that  haven  of  escaped    slaves. 

I  think  it  was  in  1847  that  John  Brown  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  visit  Boston  from  George 
L.  Stearns,  who  proffered  to  pay  his  expenses. 
A  full  account  of  this  visit  was  given  by  Mrs. 
Stearns  in  a  letter.  It  was  arranged  for  him  to 
meet  certain  friends  of  freedom  on  Sunday,  as 
this  was  the  only  time  convenient  to  all  parties.  It 
was  feared  Brown  would  not  approve  of  this,  but 
he  said  in  his  characteristic  way:     "Mr.  Stearns, I 


A  NEW  CENTURY  211 

have  a  little  ewe-lamb  that  I  want  to  pull  out  of 
the  ditch,  and  the  Sabbath  will  be  as  good  a  day 
as  any  to  do  it."  Mr.  Stearns'  oldest  son,  then 
a  boy  eleven  years  old,  was  greatly  fascinated  by 
this  strange,  kind-hearted  man,  and  after  obtain- 
ing his  father's  permission,  he  brought  out  his 
spending  money  and  gave  it  to  Brown,  saying: 
"Captain  Brown,  will  you  buy  something  with  this 
money  for  those  poor  people  in  Kansas,  and 
sometime  will  you  write  to  me  and  tell  me  what 
sort  of  a  little  boy  you  v/ere?"  "Yes,  my  son,  I 
will,  and  God  bless  you  for  your  kind  heart,"  he 
answered. 

One  of  his  sayings  in  Boston  is  quoted  by  Mrs. 
Stearns  in  the  same  letter,  as  follows:  "Gentle- 
men, I  consider  the  Golden  Rule  and  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  one  and  inseparable;  and 
it  is  better  that  a  whole  generation  of  men,  wom- 
en and  children  should  be  swept  away,  than  that 
this  crime  of  slavery  should  exist  one  day  longer." 
She  also  tells  of  her  baby  boy,  little  three  year  old 
Carl,  coming  into  the  room  as  Captain  Brown 
was  talking;  and  how  he  stood  and  looked  at  him 
intently  with  his  beautiful,  beaming  eyes;  but  as 
the  good  man  was  simply  irresistible  to  children, 
the  little  boy  was  soon  on  his  knee  playing  with 
his  beard  or  nestling  his  head  in  his  bosom.  We 
read, "A  man  may  smile  and  smile  and  be  a  villain 
still;"  but  my  observation  teaches  me  that  one 
who  loves  and  is  beloved  by  children  is  apt  to  be 
a  candid  and  a  noble  man.  Captain  Brown  had 
the  same  experience  with  the  children  of  Frederick 
Douglass,  when  boarding  in  the  family  at  Roches- 
ter, January,  1858.     One  of  them  still  says:    "The 


212  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

sun  seemed  to  rise  and  set  with  me  in  John 
Brown."  He  even  demonstrated  his  love  for  chil- 
dren by  his  request  concerning  the  kind  of  mourn- 
ers he  wanted  at  his  funeral,  as  mentioned  in  his 
last  letter,  which  we  will  read  farther  on. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1847  John  Brown  and 
Frederick  Douglass  spent  the  night  together  at 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  The  conversation 
which  then  took  place  between  them  is  quoted 
from  Frederick  May  Holland's  work.  In  it  Doug- 
lass tells  his  own  story  as  follows:  "He  touched 
my  vanity  at  the  outset  in  this  wise:  'I  have,' 
he  said,  'been  looking  over  your  people  during  the 
last  twenty  years,  watching  and  waiting  for  heads 
to  rise  above  the  surface,  to  whom  I  could  safely 
impart  my  views  and  plans.  At  times  I  have 
been  almost  discouraged,  but  lately  I  have  seen  a 
good  many  heads  popping  up,  and  whenever  I  see 
them,  I  try  to  put  myself  in  communication  with 
them,'  John  Brown's  plan, as  it  was  then  formed 
in  his  mind,  was  very  simple  and  had  much  to 
commend  it.  It  did  not,  as  some  suppose,  directly 
contemplate  a  general  uprising  among  the  slaves, 
and  a  general  slaughter  of  the  slave  masters,  but 
it  did  contemplate  the  creation  of  an  armed  force, 
which  should  constantly  act  against  slavery  in 
the  heart  of  the  South.  He  called  my  attention 
to  a  large  map  upon  the  wall,  and  pointed  out  to 
me  the  far-reaching  Alleghanies,  stretching  away 
from  New  York  into  the  Southern  States.  'These 
mountains,'  he  said,  'are  the  basis  of  my  plans. 
God  has  given  the  strength  of  these  hills  to  free- 
dom. They  were  placed  here  by  the  Almighty 
for  the  emancipation  of  your  race.      They  are  full 


A  NEW  CENTURY  213 

of  natural  forts,  where  one  man  for  defense  will 
be  equal  to  a  hundred  for  attack.  They  are  full 
of  good  hiding  places,  where  a  large  number  of 
brave  men  could  be  concealed  and  for  a  long  time 
baffle  and  elude  pursuit.  I  know  these  mountains 
well,  and  could  take  a  body  of  men  into  them 
there,  despite  all  the  efforts  Virginia  could  make 
to  dislodge  and  drive  me  out  of  them.  My  plan, 
then,  is  this:  to  take  about  tw^enty-five  brave 
men  into  those  mountains,  and  begin  my  w^ork  on 
a  small  scale,  supply  them  with  arms  and  pro- 
visions, and  post  them  in  companies  of  five  on  a 
line  of  twenty-five  miles.  These  shall  for  a  time 
busy  themselves  in  gathering  recruits  from  the 
neighboring  farms,  seeking  and  selecting  the  most 
daring  and  restless  spirits  first.'  In  this  part  of 
the  work, he  said,  the  utmost  care  was  to  be  taken 
to  avoid  treachery  and  discovery.  Only  the  most 
conscientious  and  skillful  of  his  men  were  to  be 
detailed  for  this  perilous  duty.  With  care  and 
enterprise,  he  thought,  he  could  soon  gather  a 
force  of  one  hundred  hearty  men,  who  would  be 
content  to  lead  the  free  and  adventurous  life  to 
which  he  proposed  to  train  them.  When  once 
properly  drilled,  and  each  man  had  found  the  place 
for  which  he  was  best  suited,  they  would  begin 
the  work  in  earnest.  They  would  run  off  the 
slaves  in  large  numbers.  They  would  retain  the 
strong  and  brave  and  send  the  weak  ones  North 
by  the  Underground  Railroad.  His  operations 
would  be  enlarged  with  the  increasing  number  of 
his  men,  and  they  would  not  be  confined  to  one 
locality.  He  would  approach  the  slaveholders  in 
some  cases  at  midnight,  and  tell  them    they  must 


214  ^  ^^^  NEGRO  FOR 

give  up  their  slaves,  and  also  let  them  have  their 
best  horses  upon  which  to  ride  away.  Slavery, 
he  said,  was  a  state  of  war,  in  which  the  slaves 
were  unwilling  parties,  and  that  they  therefore 
had  a  right  to  anything  necessary  to  their  peace  and 
freedom.  He  would  shed  no  blood,  and  would 
avoid  a  fight,  except  when  he  could  not  escape 
from  it  and  was  compelled  to  do  it  in  self-defense. 
He  would  then,  of  course,  do  his  best.  This 
movement,  he  said,  would  weaken  slavery  in  two 
ways.  First,  by  making  slave  property  insecure, 
it  would  make  such  property  undesirable.  Sec- 
ondly, it  would  keep  the  anti-slavery  agitation 
alive,  and  public  attention  fixed  upon  the  subject, 
and  thus  finally  lead  to  the  adoption  of  measures 
for  the  abolishing  of  the  slave  system  altogether. 
He  held  that  the  anti-slavery  agitation  was  in 
danger  of  dying  out,  and  that  it  needed  some  such 
startling  measures  as  he  proposed,  to  keep  it 
alive  and  effective.  Slavery,  he  said,  had  nearly 
been  abolished  in  Virginia  by  the  Nat  Turner  in- 
surrection; and  he  thought  his  plan  of  operation 
would  speedily  abolish  it  in  both  Maryland  and 
Virginia.  He  said  his  trouble  was  to  get  the  right 
kind  of  men  with  which  to  begin  the  work,  and 
the  means  necessary  to  equip  them.  And  here  he 
explained  the  reason  for  his  simple  mode  of  living, 
his  plain  dress,  his  leather  stock.  He  had  adopted 
this  economy  in  order  to  save  money  with  which 
to  arm  and  equip  men  to  carry  out  his  plan  of 
liberation.  This  was  said  by  him  in  no  boastful 
terms.  On  the  contrary,  he  said  he  had  already 
delayed  his  work  too  long,  and  that  he  had  no 
room  to  boast    either    his  zeal  or  his    self-denial. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  215 

From  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  till  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  Captain  Jchn  Brown  and  I  sat 
face  to  face,  he  arguing  in  favor  of  his  plan,  and 
I  finding  all  the  objections  I  could  against  it. 
Now  mark!  This  conversation  took  place  fully 
twelve  years  before  the  blow  was  struck  at  Har- 
per's Ferry,  and  his  plan  v/as  even  then  more  than 
twenty  years  old.  He  had,  therefore,  been  watch- 
ing and  waiting  all  these  years  for  suitable  heads 
to  rise  up,  or  'pop  up,'  to  use  his  expression, 
among  the  sable  millions,  to  whom  he  could  safely 
confide  his  plan,  and  thus  nearly  forty  years  had 
passed  between  this  man's  thoughts  and  his  act." 
The  last  interview  between  John  Brown  and 
Frederick  Douglass  took  place  in  an  old  stone 
quarry  near  Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  August 
20th,  1859.  There  were  only  four  men  present 
at  this  council  of  war,  if  it  might  be  so  termed; 
Douglass  and  a  colored  man  nam.ed  Shields  Green, 
who  had  recently  escaped  from  slavery  in  South 
Carolina,  John  Brown,  and  his  secretary  Mr. 
Kagai.  Douglass  now  learned  for  the  first  time 
that  Brown  had  changed  his  plan,  and  meditated 
an  attack  on  Harper's  Ferry  at  once  and  running 
the  risk  of  getting  to  the  mountains  afterwards. 
With  his  usual  far-seeing  sagacity,  Douglass  told 
Brown  he  was  running  into  a  steel  trap,  and  urged 
him  to  desist,  as  it  could  result  only  in  ruin  to  him- 
self, and  injury  to  the  cause  they  both  loved.  But 
it  was  unavailing;  the  man  of  iron  will  had  made 
up  his  mind,  and  nothing  could  turn  him  from  his 
purpose.  When  Douglass  was  about  to  separate 
from  him,  having  declined  to  join  him  in  his  un- 
dertaking, Brown  made  one  more  pathetic  appeal, 


2i6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  putting  his  arms  around  him  in  a  manner  more 
than  friendly,  he  said:  "Come  with  me,  Doug- 
lass; I  will  defend  you  with  my  life.  I  want  you 
for  a  special  purpose.  When  I  strike,  the  bees 
will  begin  to  swarm  and  I  shall  want  you  to  help 
me  hive  them." 

Alas!  how  sadly  mistaken  he  was  in  his  theory 
remains  to  be  seen. 

John  Brown  purchased  or  leased  a  small  farm 
about  six  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry, on  the-Mary- 
landside,  July,  1859,  and  established  here  his  head- 
quarters and  arsenal.  He  had  one  hundred  and 
two  Sharp's  rifles,  sixty-eight  pistols,  fifty-five 
bayonets,  twelve  artillery  swords,  four  hundred 
and  eighty-three  pikes,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
broken  handles  of  pikes,  sixteen  picks,  forty 
shovels,  besides  quite  a  number  of  other  appurte- 
nances of  war. 

Captain  Brown  expected  to  make  his  attack  on 
Harper's  Ferry  on  the  night  of  October  24th, 
1859;  but  while  in  Baltimore  in  September,  he 
was  under  the  impression  that  there  was  a  con- 
spiracy in  his  camp.  Fearing  he  would  be  betrayed 
and  his  plans  frustrated,  he  determined,  without 
informing  his  Northern  friends,  to  strike  the  first 
blow  on  the  night  of  October  17th. 

The  story  is  soon  told.  He  was  made  a  prisoner 
October  19th,  and  remained  until  November 
7th  without  a  change  of  clothing  or  medical  aid. 
Forty-two  days  from  the  time  of  his  imprisonment 
he  was  hanged,  after  a  mock  trial,  by  Governor 
Wise  of  Virginia.  That  this  so-called  raid  was 
ill-timed  and  premature,  all  will  agree;  but  the 
motive  which  inspired  him  to  action  was  certainly 


A  NEW  CENTURY  217 

a  desire  to  imitate  the  example  of  Him  who  came 
"to  bind  up  the  broken  hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty 
to  the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to 
them  that  are  bound." 

Whittier  very  pathetically  describes   the  scene: 

"John  Brown  of  Ossawatomie,  they  led  him  out  to  die; 
And  lo!  a  poor  slave  mother  with  her  little  child  pressed  nigh; 
Then  the  bold    blue  eye   grew    tender,  and  the  old    harsh  face 

grew  mild, 
As  he  stooped  between  the  jeering  ranks  and  kissed  the  negro's 

child." 

He  had  gone  into  Virginia  to  save  life,  not  to 
destroy  it.  This  is  proven  by  a  statement  made 
before  the  fight  at  Harper's  Ferry:  "And  novv^, 
gentlemen,  let  me  press  this  one  thing  on  your 
minds.  You  all  know  how  dear  life  is  to  you,  and 
how  dear  your  lives  are  to  your  friends,  and  in  re- 
membering that,  consider  that  the  lives  of  others 
are  as  dear  to  them  as  yours  are  to  you.  Do  not, 
therefore,  take  the  life  of  any  one  if  you  can  pos- 
sibly avoid  it;  but  if  it  is  necessary  to  take  life  in 
order  to  save  your  own,  then  make  sure  work  of 
it."  After  the  fight  at  Harper's  Ferry  he  also 
said:  "I  never  did  intend  murder,  or  treason,  or 
the  destruction  of  property,  or  to  excite  or  incite 
slaves  to  rebellion,  or  to  make  insurrection.  The 
design  on  my  part  was  to  free  the  slaves." 

Congressman  Vallandigham  of  Ohio,  who  ex- 
amined him  in  court,  said  afterwards  in  a  speech: 
"It  is  in  vain  to  underrate  either  the  man  or  the 
conspiracy.  Captain  John  Brown  is  as  brave  and 
resolute  a  man  as  ever  headed  an  insurrection,  and 
in  a  good  cause,  and  with  a  sufficient  force,  would 
have    been  a  consummate    partisan    commander. 


2i8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

He  has  coolness,  daring,  persistency,  stoic  faith 
and  patience,  and  a  firmness  of  will  and  purpose 
unconquerable!  He  is  furtherest  possible  removed 
from   the    ordinary  ruffian,    fanatic    or  madman." 

South  Carolina,  Missouri  and  Kentucky  each 
sent  a  rope  to  hang  him.  But  the  one  from  Ken- 
tucky proving  the  strongest,  was  selected  and  used. 
It  seems  a  little  paradoxical  that  Kentucky,  the 
home  of  Henry  Clay  the  "Great  Compromiser"  of 
slavery,  and  the  birthplace  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
the  great  emancipator  of  slavery,  should  furnish 
the  rope  to  hang  John  Brown,  the  forerunner  of 
Lincoln,  and  one  of  the  noblest  and  best  men  of 
any  age  or  country. 

His  last  letter  was  written  to  Mrs.  George  L. 
Stearns,  his  Boston  friend  at  whose  home  he  was 
entertained,  and  is  as  follows: 

"Charlestown,  Jefferson  Co.,  Va.,  29th  Nov., 
1859. 


"Mrs.  George  L.   Stearns, 


Boston,  Mass. 


"My  Dear  Friend: — No  letter  I  have  received 
since  my  imprisonment  here  has  given  me  more 
satisfaction  or  comfort  than  yours  of  8th  inst.  I 
am  quite  cheerful,  and  never  more  happy.  Have 
only  time  to  write  you  a  word.  May  God  forever 
reward  you  and  all  yours.  My  love  to  all  who 
love  their  neighbors.  I  have  asked  to  be  spared 
from  having  any  mock  or  hypocritical  prayers 
made  over  me  when  I  am  publicly  murdered,  and 
that  my  only  religious  attendants  be  poor  little, 
dirty,  ragged,    bareheaded    and    barefooted    slave 


A  NEW  CENTURY  219 

boys  and  girls,  led  by  some  old  gray-headed  slave 
mother. 

"Farewell,  farewell.     Your   friend, 

"John  Brown." 

Mr.  Stearns  helped  to  go  through  the  formality 
of  a  defense,  but  it  was  in  vain. 

A  well  organized  plan  was  made  to  rescue  him, 
conducted  by  the  brave  Colonel  James  Montgomery 
of  Kansas,  bat  the  prisoner  sent  word  to  them 
that  his  sense  of  honor  to  his  jailer,  Captain  Acvis, 
prevented  him  from  walking  out  should  the  door 
be  left  open. 

A  satchel  belonging  to  Captain  Brown  was 
found  when  he  was  taken  prisoner,  containing  let- 
ters which  implicated  Frederick  Douglass.  Warned 
by  his  friends,  Douglass  escaped  first  to  Canada  and 
from  there  to  England.  Buchanan's  marshals  were 
hot  on  his  trail,  coming  to  Rochester  six  hours  after 
he  left.  Governor  Wise  made  requisition  on  the 
executives  of  New  York  and  Michigan,  but  the  bird 
had  flown.  To  show  the  temper  of  the  Governor 
when  he  found  his  prey  had  escaped,  I  will  quote 
from  his  speech  made  in  Richmond,  December  21, 
of  the  same  year.  He  said,  with  tremendous  ap- 
plause: "Oh,  if  I  had  had  one  good,  long,  low, 
black,  rakish,  well-armed  steamer  in  Hampton 
Roads,  1  would  have  placed  her  on  the  Newfound- 
land Banks,  with  orders,  if  she  found  a  British 
packet  with  that  Negro  on  board,  to  take  him.  And 
by  the  eternal  gods,  he  should  have  been  taken— 
taken  with  very  particular  instructions  not  to  hang 
him  before  I  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  him  well 
hung." 


220  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

It  seems  that  the  death  of  John  Brown  and  his 
followers  had  not  mollified  the  rage  of  Governor 
and  people.  It  might  be  said  of  Brown  that,  like 
Samson,  he  accomplished  more  in  his  death  than 
during  his  life,  for  he  lighted  the  torch  of  freedom, 
which  was  never  extinguished^  For  though  John 
Brown's  body  lay  moulderng  in  the  tomb,  his  soul 
went  marching  on,  until  freedom  v/as  proclaimed 
to  four  millions  of  slaves. 

II.  Calvin  Fairbank:— The  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  living  at  Angelica,  New  York,  now  upwards  of 
eighty  years  of  age.  Although  broken  in  health,  he 
still  takes  great  interest  in  passing  events  and 
keeps  up  an  extensive  correspondence  with  his 
friends.  We  have  exchanged  several  letters  with 
him  and  are  glad  to  give  him  his  true  place 
in  history  by  the  side  of  Garrison,  Brown 
and  Lovejoy.  Some  years  ago  he  wrote  an  inter- 
esting history  of  his  life,  and  has  recently  pub- 
lished another  book  giving  an  exceedingly  interest- 
ing account  of  "How  the  Way  was  Prepared"  for 
the  emancipation  of  slaves.  He  is  a  hero  who  has 
spent  long  years  in  jail  in  testimony  of  his  de- 
votion to  the  cause  of  human  freedom.  His 
career,  one  of  daring  and  suffering,  almost  sur- 
passing belief,  has  been  unique  and  without  paral- 
lel. The  story  of  his  life  is  best  told  in  his  own 
words  and  way: 

"I  was  born  in  Pike,  New  York,  eighty  years 
ago.  In  my  childhood  my  father  was  a  farmer, 
but  later  he  became  a  lumberman,  engaged  with  an 
uncle  of  mine  in  clearing  up  a  tract  of  timber  land 
near  Olean,  the  lumber  from  which  they  floated 
down  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio  rivers    and    sold  in 


A  NEW  CENTURY  221 

the  Cincinnati  markets  My  father  and  mother  were 
Methodists, and  one  of  the  most  vivid  recollections 
of  my  childhood  is  of  going  with  them  when  I  was 
about  twelve  years  eld  to  attend  a  quarterly  meet- 
ing lield  in  another  town  a  dozen  miles  or  so  from 
Hu/ne,  N.  Y. ,  where  we  then  lived.  We  remained 
ov^v  night,  and  as  the  large  attendance  at  the 
meeting  had  filled  every  house  in  the  town,  I,  be- 
ing a  boy,  was  sent  to  sleep  at  the  home  of  an  ex- 
iiaye  family,  the  head  of  which  had  made  his  es- 
-cape  from  Virginia  some  years  before.  Child 
though  I  was,  the  stories  of  the  suffering  and  mis- 
ery endured  by  slaves  which  the  old  Negro  told 
me  that  night,  as  we  sat  together  on  the  stone 
hearth  in  front  of  the  open  fireplace,  settled  the 
coarse  of  my  after-life.  I  resolved,  if  I  lived,  to 
hc.lp  right  the  great  wrongs  wdth  w^hich  I  had  thus 
bvsjen  made  acquainted,  and  though  it  was  not  until 
n.-any  years  later  that  I  came  to  know  of  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Underground  Railroad  and  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  my  resolution 
grew  stronger  as  I  grew  older,  and  only  needed 
fitting  opportunity  to  bear  fruit.  The  opportunity 
came  in  the  spring  of  1837,  just  before  I  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  my  father  sent  me 
down  the  river  to  Cincinnati  in  charge  of  a  raft 
of  lumber.  It  was  a  morning  in  April,  sharp, 
crisp  and  clear,  and  we  were  rounding  a  bend  in 
the  Ohio  River  just  below  Wheeling  when  I  caught 
sight  of  a  strapping  darky,  an  ax  flung  over  his 
shoulder,  jogging  along  on  the  Virginia  bank  of 
the  river,  singing  as  he  went: 

"De  cold,  frosty  morning  make  a  niggah  feel  good, 
Wid  de  ax  on  de  shoulder  he  go  jogging  to  de  wood." 


222  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

"*Halloo,  there!  where  are  you  going?*  I  called 
to  him.  *Gwine  choppin'  in  de  woods!'  'Chop- 
ping for  yourself?' 

"'Han't  got  no  self.'  'Slave,  are  you?'  'Dat's 
what  I  is.'  'Why  don't  you  run  away?'  'Case 
I  don't  knovv^  where  to  go.'  'I'll  show  you  where 
to  go.'  'White  man  mighty  onsartin;  niggah  more 
so,'  he  said,  shaking  his  head  doubtfully. 

"We  talked  for  some  time,  I  all  the  while  urg- 
ing him  to  make  the  break  for  the  North,  whither 
his  wife  had  already  escaped.  Finally  he  asked 
where  I  was  from,  and  when  I  tcld  him  from  New 
York  state  my  reply  seemed  to  settle  it,  for  he 
dropped  his  ax  and  jumped  onto  the  raft.  I  pushed 
off  and  we  swung  over  to  the  Ohio  side.  As  we 
touched  the  shore  the  darky,  whose  name  was 
Johnson,  danced  a  jig  for  joy.  I  directed  him  to 
the  house  of  a  man  named  Snyder,  who  lived  near 
by  and  who,  I  had  been  told,  kept  a  station  on  the 
Underground  Railroad,  and  continued  on  my  way 
down  the  river.  When  I  came  back  I  learned  that 
Johnson  had  remained  in  hiding  for  some  time 
with  the  Snyders  and  had  finally  gone,  no  one 
knew  where.  I  had  now  got  my  hand  in  as  a 
slave  stealer,  and  was  anxious  for  more  work  to 
do.  On  the  same  trip  down  the  river,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Miami,  I  helped  across  the 
Ohio  a  family  of  seven,  Stewart  by  name,  four 
men  and  three  women,  all  of  them  over  six  feet 
tall. 

"After  I  had  marketed  my  lumber  at  Cincinnati 
I  took  passage  on  a  steamer  for  Pittsburg.  The 
steamer  stopped  at  Maysville,  Kentucky,  to  take 
on    freight,  and     while  it  was    loading  I    went  for 


A  NEW  CENTURY  223 

a  walk  about  the  town.  On  one  of  the  back  streets 
I  met  an  extremely  pretty  girl  of  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen who  seemed  in  deep  distress.  I  asked  her  what 
was  the  matter  and  she  told  me  that  she  was  a 
slave — you  would  not  have  known  it  from  her  color 
—  and  was  trying  to  escape  from  her  master,  a 
man  who  lived  a  few  miles  out  in  the  country 
from  town,  and  who  also  was  her  father.  I  took 
the  girl  back  to  the  steamer  and  introduced  her  to 
my  sister,  explaining  to  the  clerk  and  captain  that 
I  had  met  her  in  Maysville  by  appointment.  No 
questions  were  asked,  and  we  made  the  trip  to 
Pittsburg  in  safety.  She  was  exceedingly  bright 
and  a  skilled  musician,  and,  I  remember,  made  a 
deep  impression  on  some  of  the  male  passengers, 
one  of  whom  went  so  far  as  to  ask  the  privilege  of 
corresponding  with  her.  She  settled  in  New  York, 
finally  married  well,  and  is  now  living  in  San 
Francisco  in  more  than  comfortable  circumstances. 

"In  June,  1838,  I  was  again  in  Cincinnati  sell- 
ing lumber,  and  while  there  heard  of  a  slave 
family  of  fourteen,  a  few  miles  below  the  city,  in 
Kentucky,  who  were  anxious  to  escape.  I  engaged 
a  scow  and  with  a  Negro  named  Casey  paddled 
them  across  the  river  to  the  Ohio  side.  We  were 
closely  followed  by  their  owner  and  a  posse  of 
officers,  but  succeeded  in  throwing  them  off  the 
scent.  Next  day  Henry  Boyd,  a  wealthy  Cincin- 
nati colored  man,  guided  the  runaways  in  safety 
to  Lawrenceburg,  Indiana,  whence  they  were  sent 
further  North.  This  made  twenty-three  slaves  I 
helped  to  liberty  before  I  was  as  many  years  old. 

"I  was  anxious  for  a  better  education  than    the 
common  schools  I  had  thus  far  attended    afforded 


224  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

me,  and  to  secure  it  entered  the  seminary  at  Lima, 
N.  Y.,  in  1839.  Later  I  became  a  student  at 
Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  from  which  institution  J 
graduated  in  1844.  While  a  student  at  Oberlin  i 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Gerrit  Smith,  Joshua 
R.  Giddings,  Theodore  Parker  and  other  abolition 
leaders,  and  became  thoroughly  imbued  with  their 
ideas,  coming  to  hold  with  Smith  that  the  Federal 
constitution,  instead  of  countenancing  slavery, 
positively  forbade  it.  During  my  college  vacations, 
in  order  to  obtain  money  with  which  to  continue 
my  studies,  I  taught  school  in  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky. One  of  the  first  friends  I  made  in  Lexing- 
ton was  Cassius  M.  Clay.  He  was  then,  as  now,  a 
large-hearted,  noble-minded  man,  and  an  attach- 
ment sprang  up  between  us  which  to-day  is  as 
warm  as  ever.  In  those  days  he  was  editing  the 
True  American,  the  only  anti-slavery  paper  pub- 
lished in  the  South.  His  boldness  in  attacking  the 
lion  in  its  very  den,  as  it  were,  produced  the  most 
violent  opposition,  and  upon  a  number  of  occasions 
I  was  among  those  who  guarded  his  printing  plant 
from  destruction  by  mobs.  Once,  I  remember,  I 
manned  for  two  days  and  nights  a  cannon  loaded 
with  grape  and  canister  posted  in  front  of  his 
office  door.  There  were  one  or  two  more  cannons 
about  the  premises,  and  a  mob,  had  it  visited  us, 
would  have  received  a  warm  reception. 

"One  day  in  August,  1841,  word  came  to  me 
that  an  escaped  slave,  named  Coleman,  with  his 
wife  and  three  children,  were  in  hiding  in  Lexing- 
ton. The  poor  creatures  had  made  their  way 
from  East  Tennessee,  but  their  owner  was  hot  on 
their  track,  and    they  were    afraid    to    go    further 


A  NEW  CENTURY  225 

without  a  guide  I  left  my  school  in  charge  of 
another,  and  started  with  them  toward  the  Ohio 
River  at  night  and  on  foot.  We  traveled  for  six 
nights,  lying  in  hiding  during  the  day.  We  finally 
reached  the  Ohio,  opposite  Ripley,  and  crossed 
the  river  in  a  skiff.  Just  after  we  had  crossed  I 
saw  a  Negro  boy  run  along  the  Kentucky  shore  and 
disappear.  I  suspected  he  v^as  trying  to  escape, 
and  went  back  to  help  him.  I  found  him  behind 
a  log  in  the  swamp,  and  got  away  with  him, 
though  men  with  bloodhounds  were  hunting  the 
boy  at  the  time. 

"In  April,  1842,  I  was  in  Covington,  Kentucky, 
and  while  there  was  told  of  the  case  of  Emily 
Ward,  a  handsome  girl  of  eighteen,  two-thirds 
white,  who  had  been  sold  and  was  about  to  be 
taken  South  to  become  the  mistress  of  her  pur- 
chaser. She  was  kept  in  an  attic  facing  the  river. 
I  went  at  nightfall,  and  attracting  her  attention  by 
tossing  pebbles  against  the  windows,  threw  up  to 
her,tied  to  a  stone, a  note  telling  her  I  had  come  to 
help  her  escape.  By  the  same  means  I  got  up  to 
her  first  a  cord  with  a  bundle  of  men's  clothes 
fastened  to  it,  and  finally  a  stout  rope.  She  put 
on  the  clothes,  and  crawling  through  a  rear  win- 
dow of  the  room  in  which  she  was  locked,  slid 
down  the  rope  to  the  ground.  When  we  were  a 
few  feet  away  from  the  house  we  met  her  master, 
who  apologized  for  unintentionally  brushing  against 
me  in  the  darkness.  The  girl's  case  was  known  to 
everyone  in  Covington,  and  I  did  not  dare  to  hire  a 
boat  to  take  us  across  to  ^  >ncinnati  for  fear  of  de- 
tection; so  we  got  on  boa^d  a  raft,  eight  by  twenty 
rods, containing  one  milh'   i  feet  of  boards  and  one 


22G  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

hundred  thousand  shingles,  worked  by  twelve  men 
besides  myself,  the  pilot.  Once  in  Cincinnati,  we 
were  safe.  I  took  Emily  to  the  house  of  Levi 
Coffin,  Superintendent  of  the  Underground  Railroad 
in  that  department,  and  turned  her  over  to  him. 
He  found  her  a  comfortable  home  and  she  did  well. 

"Five  days  after  helping  Emily  Ward  to  escape 
I  again  crossed  the  Ohio  at  night  on  a  log.  This 
time  I  had  for  a  companion  John  Hamilton,  a 
mulatto.  He  was  a  man  of  superior  natural  ability 
and  made  his  mark.  After  the  war  he  returned 
South  and  became  a  State  Senator  in  South  Car- 
olina, only  to  be  murdered  by  the  Ku-Klux.  This 
was  my  last  log  trip,  but  within  a  week  I  rescued 
the  Stanton  family,  father,  mother  and  six  children. 
They  had  been  sold  and  were  about  to  be  sent  to  a 
Louisiana  sugar  plantation.  I  packed  them  in  the 
bottom  of  a  load  of  straw  bought  just  out  of  Cov- 
ington ostensibly  for  livery  use,  and  drove  them 
in  safety  to  Cincinnati,  where  Levi  CofBn  sent 
them  North  over  the  Underground  Railroad. 

"In  August  of  the  same  year  I  spent  several 
weeks  in  Montgomer}^  County,  Kentucky,  as  the 
guest  of  Richard  McFarland.  A  girl  of  sixteen  was 
anxious  to  escape  and  applied  to  me  for  help. 
Starting  on  a  clear,  moonlight  night,  we  drove  be- 
fore noon  next  day  to  Lexington,  a  distance  of  ninety 
miles.  On  the  way  we  were  overhauled  by  a  brother 
of  McFarland,  who  was  searching  for  a  lost  slave 
When  I  heard  the  man's  name  my  heart  rose  in 
my  mouth,  but  by  putting  on  a  bold  front  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  off  without  disclosing  the  identity 
of  myself  and  companion.  My  scruples  against  so 
gross  a  breach  of  hospitality  as  stealing  the   prop- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  ^27 

erty  of  my  host  were  fully  overcome  by  tha  fact 
that  both  the  girl  and  her  mother  were  the  chil- 
dren of  their  master.  Kate  was  a  pretty  blonde, 
with  blue  eyes  and  flaxen  hair,  showing  not  the 
slightest  trace  of  Negro  blood.  From  Lexington  I 
took  her  to  Cincinnati  and  gave  her  into  the  care 
of  Gamaliel  Bailey,  editor  of  the  National  Era,  one 
of  the  noblest  and  bravest  soldiers  in  the  abolition 
army.  Later,  Kate's  mother,  brother  and  sister 
escaped.  The  children  were  all  educated  by  Mr. 
Bailey  and  are  still  living  in  prosperous  circum- 
stances. 

"The  most  remarkable  incident  of  this  period  of 
my  life  occurred  in  March,  1843.  One  day  in  the 
latter  part  of  that  month,  while  looking  through 
the  jail  at  Lexington,  my  attention  was  attracted 
to  one  of  the  prisoners,  a  young  woman  of  ex- 
quisite figure  and  singular  beauty.  1  asked  the 
jailer  who  she  was,  and  to  my  surprise,  for  she 
looked  pure  Caucasian,  he  told  me  that  she  was  a 
slave  girl  named  Eliza  and  the  daughter  of  her 
master,  who  a  few  days  later  was  to  sell  her  upon 
the  block  for  the  New  Orleans  market,  impelled 
by  the  jealousy  of  his  wife  because  the  slave  girl 
was  superior  to  her  own  daughters.  Then  I  talked 
with  the  girl;  I  found  that  she  was  intelligent  as 
well  as  beautiful,  and  I  resolved  to  exert  every 
effort  to  save  so  magnificent  a  creature  from  so 
sad  a  fate.  I  told  her  I  would  go  to  Cincinnati 
and  do  my  best  to  raise  the  money  with  which  to 
purchase  her  freedom;  if  I  obtained  it  I  would  be 
back  before  the  sale  came  off;  if  I  did  not  return 
she  would  at  least  have  the  sorry  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  I  had  done  all  I  could.      I  hurried  to 


228  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Cincinnati  and  sought  out  that  old  hero  and  apostle 
of  freedom,  Levi  Coffin.  He  gave  me  prompt  and 
generous  assistance,  and  in  a  short  time  we  raised 
seven  hundred  dollars.  I  then  laid  the  case  be- 
fore Salmon  P.  Chase,  afterwards  Senator,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  Chief  Justice,  who 
gave  me  two  hundred  more  and  went  with  me  to 
see  Nicholas  Longworth.  The  latter  was  worth 
millions,  but  we  were  afraid  nothing  would  come 
of  our  appeal  to  him,  but  decided  to  make  it,  as  it 
cost  us  nothing.  *Mr.  Longworth,'  said  Chase, 
'do  you  consider  yourself  a  Christian?' 

"T  am  not  a  very  good  one,'  was  the  reply. 

"'Well,  we  have  got  a  case  here  that  appeals  to 
both  humanity  and  Christianity.  Mr.  Fairbank 
will  tell  you  about  it.'  I  told  the  story.  Long- 
worth  listened  in  silence,  and  when  I  was  through 
drew  his  check-book  from  a  drawer  and  began  fill- 
ing out  a  check.  A  moment  later  Longworth 
wheeled  around  and  handed  me  a  check  for  one 
thousand  dollars.  A  number  of  well-to-do  Negroes 
raised  and  gave  me  several  hundred  dollars  more, 
and  when  I  went  back  to  Lexington,  the  day  be- 
fore the  time  appointed  for  the  sale,  I  carried  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars. 
Moreover,  in  my  pocketbook  was  an  agreement 
signed  by  Chase,  Longworth  and  William  Howard, 
another  rich  Cincinnatian,  empowering  me  to 
draw  upon  them,  if  necessary,  to  the  extent  of 
twenty-five  thousand.  The  sale  took  place  and 
was  attended  by  fully  two  thousand  people,  drawn 
there  by  descriptions  of  the  girl's  comeliness  and 
rumors  of  the  effort  that  was  to  be  made  to  save 
her.      The  best  people  of  the  town  were  there,  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  229 

a  number  of  strangers  from  Boston,  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  were  also  present,  curious  and  horror- 
stricken.      But  one    man    appeared    to  bid  agamst 
me,  a  Frenchman   from  New   Orleans,  who  1  was 
told  made  it  his  business   to   attend  sales  cf  young 
girls    and    purchase    them    for  a   fate   worse    than 
death.     Eliza,  when  placed  upon  the  block, seemed 
ready  to  drop  from  fear  and  shame.     The  auction- 
eer began  his  work  by  pointing    out  her  beauties, 
concluding    with,    'What    am    I   offered    for    her.?' 
'Five  hundred,'  I  cried.      The    New  Orleans   man 
instantly  raised  my  bid,  until  I  raised   his    last  bid 
to  thirteen    hundred,  when    he  turned  to  me  with 
an  ugly  look  and  said:       'How  high  are  you  going 
to  bid.?'  'Higher  than  you  do,  Monsieur,'  I  replied. 
He  turned    away  and  raised  my  bid,  and  we  kept 
bidding  until  he    turned    to  me  and  asked:      'How 
high  are  you  going.?'      'None  of  your  business,  sir, 
but  you  haven't  enough    money  to  buy  this    girl.' 
The  auctioneer  grew  impatient   and     cried,  'Give, 
give.'    Finally  he  dropped  his  hammer  and  tearing 
open    Eliza's  waist,  exposed  a  bust  as    perfect    as 
ever    artist    sculptured.      'Look,    gentlemen,'     he 
cried.      'Who  is  going  to  lose  a  chance    like    this. 
Here's  a  girl  fit  to  be  the  mistress  of  a  king.'    'Too 
bad!'      'What  a  shame!'  ran  through  the  crowd  at 
sight  of  this  indignity;    but  only  to  be  followed  by 
greater  exposure  of  the  poor   girl's    person.      The 
hammer  fell  at  fourteen    hundred    and   eighty  dol- 
lars, and  the  girl  was  mine.      An  instant    later  she 
tottered  back  into  the   arms  of  her  aunt  in  a  deep 
swoon.       'She    is    yours,    young    man,'    said    the 
auctioneer.  'What  are  you   going  to  do  with   her.?' 
'Free    her,  sir,'  and    my  answer    awoke   a   cheer, 


230  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

which,  rising  to  a  Kentucky  shout,  rent  the  air. 
As  soon  as  they  could  be  made  out,  I  handed 
Eliza  the  papers  which  formally  set  her  free. 
Four  days  after  the  sale  I  took  Eliza  to  Cincinnati, 
where  she  became  a  member  of  the  family  of 
Gamaliel  Bailey.  Under  his  care  she  received  a 
finished  education,  married  well,  and  to-day  is  a 
cheerful,  charming  matron.  Only  the  members  of 
her  immediate  family  know  the  history  of  her 
early  years;  so  you  will  understand  why  I  do  not 
give  her  full  name. 

•'Lewis  Hayden,  who  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  general  court  and  in  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  same  state,  and  who  was  long  ago 
one  of  the  honored  citizens  of  Boston,  was  when  a 
young  man  a  slave,  the  property  of  Baxter  and 
Grant,  owners  of  the  Brennan  House,  in  Lexing- 
ton. Hayden's  wife,  and  his  son,  a  lad  of  ten 
years,  when  I  first  knew  them,  were  the  slaves 
of  Patrick  Baine.  On  a  September  evening  in  1 844, 
accompanied  by  Miss  D  A.  Webster,  a  young  Ver- 
mont lady  who  was  associated  with  me  in  teach- 
ing, I  left  Lexington  with  the  Haydens  in  a  hack, 
crossed  the  Ohio  on  a  ferry  the  next  morning, 
changed  horses  and  drove  to  an  Underground  Rail- 
road depot  at  Hopkins,  Ohio,  where  we  left  Hayden 
and  his  family.  When  Miss  Webster  and  I  re- 
turned to  Lexington,  after  two  days'  absence,  we 
were  both  arrested,  charged  by  their  master  with 
helping  Hayden's  wife  and  son  to  escape.  We 
were  jointly  indicted,  but  Miss  Webster  was  tried 
first  and  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment  in 
the  penitentiary  at  Frankfort. 

"My  cell-mate  in    the    jail  in  which  I  was   con 


A  NEW  CENTURY  231 

fined  before  my  trial  was  Richard  Moore,  a  young 
mulatto,  a  slave  under  sentence  of  death  for  the 
murder  of  his  mistress,  a  Mrs.  Turner.  The  thing 
seemed  impossible,  but  I  determined  to  attempt 
his  and  my  own  escape.  A  week  or  so  before  the 
time  set  for  his  execution  I  suggested  a  plan  for 
four  or  five  slaves  to  break  jail,  and  in  this  way 
secured  two  bars  of  iron,  which  I  hid  away.  Early 
on  the  Tuesday  night  previous  to  the  Fiiday  upon 
which  Moore  was  to  hang,  we  attacked  the  wall  of 
our  cell.  All  night  we  worked  without  rest;  the 
palms  of  my  hands  were  worn  to  the  tendons.  We 
had  reached  the  last  bowlder  on  the  outside  of  the 
four-foot  wall  when  the  city  clock  struck  five.  We 
were  half  an  hour  too  late.  'I  am  a  dead  man,' 
said  Moore,  and  fell  almost  to  the  floor.  When 
what  we  had  done  was  discovered  we  were  hand- 
cuffed together,  and  remained  so  day  and  night 
until  Moore  was  executed.  Do  you  wonder  that  I 
have  never  forgotten  this  experience.-* 

"While  my  case  was  still  pending  I  learned  that 
the  Governor  was  inclined  to  pardon  Miss  Web- 
ster, but  first  insisted  that  I  should  be  tried. 
When  called  up  for  trial,  in  February,  1845,  I 
pleaded  guilty  and  received  a  sentence  of  fifteen 
years.  A  little  later  Miss  Webster  received  her 
pardon.  I  served  four  years  and  eleven  months, 
was  released  August  23,  1849,  by  Governor  John 
J.  Crittenden,  the  able  and  patriotic  man  who 
afterwards  saved  Kentucky  to  the  Union.  His 
action  was  prompted  by  petitions  in  my  behalf 
from  all  parts  of  the  North.  I  returned  to  the 
North^immediately  after  my  release,  and  did  what 
I  couM  do  to  prevent  the    passage  of  the  Fugitive 


232  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Slave  Will.  After  it  became  a  law  by  the  signature 
of  President  Fillmore,  1  resisted  its  execution 
whenever  and  wherever  possible. 

"An  incident  which  happened  soon  after  I  re- 
turned North  showed  me  that  my  labors  for  the 
slaves  had  not  been  in  vain.  In  the  autumn  of 
1849  I  was  in  Detroit,  Michigan.  In  talking  over 
my  early  experiences  one  day  with  General  Lewis 
Cass  I  told  him  of  Sam  Johnson,  the  first  Negro 
whom  I  had  freed. 

"'Why,'  said  the  General,  'Johnson  lives  just 
out  of  this  city.  He  has  told  me  the  same  story 
a  dozen  times.'  The  General  informed  me  that 
Johnson  drove  into  the  city  almost  daily,  and  next 
morning  I  waited  at  the  place  to  which  I  had  been 
directed  for  his  appearance.  He  finally  came, 
seated  in  a  wagon  loaded  with  grain  and  drawn 
by  a  six-horse  team.  'Whose  team  is  that.'^*  I 
asked.  'Mine,'  was  the  reply.  'Do  you  know 
that  I  am  j^our  master.?'  I  continued.  'Hain't 
got  no  master, '  said  he  gloomily.  Then  recognizing 
who  I  was,  he  leaped  from  his  seat  with  a  joyful, 
'Blessed  if  you  hain't  de  chap  dat  sot  me  free,' 
and  caught  me  in  his  arms.  He  took  me  to  his 
home,  a  few  miles  from  Detroit, and  I  found  him  to 
be  a  well-to-do  farmer,  owning  a  well-stocked 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  with  his  wife 
and  children  about  him.  Living  near  the  John- 
sons, and  like  them,  contented  and  comfortable,  I 
found  the  Stewart  and  Coleman  families,  for  whom 
I  had  also  lighted  the  path  to  freedom. 

"My  father  had  died  of  cholera  at  Lexington  in" 
1849,  while  seeking  to  secure    my  release,  and  in 
October,  185 1,  I  went  South  to  get  the   be  dy  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  233 

bring  it  back  to  our  old  home  here  in  New  York. 
While  waiting  in  Louisville  for  the  cooler  weather 
which  would  permit  a  fulfillment  of  my  mission,  I 
rescued  a  woman  named  Julia  and  her  child. 
Crossing  the  Ohio  in  a  skiff  at  night,  I  took  them 
to  an  underground  depot  at  Buckrams,  Indiana,  I 
saw  the  mother  afterward  at  Windsor,  Canada, 
where  she  had  married  well.  Two  weeks  later  I 
carried  off  Tamor,  a  bright  mulatto  girl  of  twenty 
belonging  to  A.  L.  Shotwell  of  Louisville.  I  knew 
the  undertaking  was  an  extremely  dangerous  one 
and  I  laid  my  plans  carefully.  The  girl  met  me 
one  evening  at  a  certain  gate,  dressed  for  the  oc- 
casion. We  walked  through  the  busiest  part  of 
the  city  to  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  which  we  crossed 
in  a  leaky  skiff,  which  I  propelled  with  a  piece  of 
board  while  Tamor  kept  the  skiff  from  sinking  by 
constant  bailing  with  a  large  cup  which  we  had 
brought  along  for  the  purpose.  Resting  as  we 
might,  during  the  night,  chased  from  one  retreat  to 
another,  I  drove  with  her  early  next  morning  to  a 
railroad  station  twenty-four  miles  from  the  river, 
and  took  her  on  the  cars  to  Salem,  Indiana,  where 
I  left  her  with  a  friend.  This  was  the  last  slave 
whom  I  was  ever  able  to  help  off.  In  fifteen 
years  I  had,  unaided  and  alone,  freed  forty-seven 
slaves,  besides  lending  assistance  in  many  other 
cases. 

"The  freeing  of  Tamor  again  cost  me  my  own 
liberty.  One  week  afterwards  I  was  kidnaped 
from  Indiana  soil,  and  without  process  of  law  taken 
to  Louisville  and  lodged  in  jail.  I  was  tried  in 
February,  1852,  the  owner  of  Tamor  appearing  as 
my  prosecutor,  and  though    the  evidence    against 


234  ^  V^^^'  NEGRO  FOR 

me  was  of  the  flimsiest  character,  my  reputation  as 
slave-stealer  secured  rny  conviction.  My  sentence 
was  fifteen  years  at  hard  labor  in  the  state  prison. 
My  friends  did  little  for  me,  and  that  was  one  rea- 
son why  I  fared  so  hard.  They  were  afraid,  so 
intense  was  the  feeling  against  me  in  Louisville, 
that  if  they  succeeded  in  securing  my  acquittal  by 
a  jury,  a  mob  would  take  it  up  and  lynch  me.  My 
own  mind,  however,  was  at  rest  on  that  point. 
I  would  have  taken  part  in  any  lynching  that 
might  have  been  attempted  and  looked  out  for 
myself. 

"I  returned  to  the  prison  at  Frankfort  in  March, 
1852.  Captain  Newton  Craig,  the  warden  under 
whom  I  had  served  my  first  term,  was  still  in 
charge.  What  was  known  as  the  lease  system 
was  then  in  vogue,  the  prison  being  leased  to  the 
warden  for  a  certain  sum  a  year,  the  warden  look- 
ing to  the  labor  of  the  prisoners  for  his  profit. 
The  prison  during  all  the  years  that  it  was  my 
home  was  in  a  horrible  condition,  unspeakably 
filthy  and  miserably  ventilated.  During  my  first 
imprisonment  Craig  had  treated  me  kindly,  but 
his  bearing  when  I  came  before  him  for  the  second 
time  plainly  told  me  that  my  lot  was  to  be  a  hard 
one.  x\fter  being  locked  up  for  two  days  I  was 
brought  before  the  warden  in  the  prison  chapel, 
the  Governor  and  other  prominent  citizens  being 
present,  and  denounced  for  what  I  had  done.  *Mr. 
Davis,'  said  the  warden,  'take  Fairbank  to  the 
hackling  house  and  kill  him.'  To  the  hackling 
house  I  accordingly  went.  This  was  where  the 
hemp,  after  being  broken,  was  hackled.  After  a 
month's  work  in  the  hackling  shop  I  was  sent    to 


A  NEW  CENTURY  235 

the  spinning  shop,  and  finally  to  the  weaving  shop, 
where  I  remained  for  ten  and  a  half  years.  While 
in  the  hackling  shop  I  received  my  first  flogging 
with  the  rawhide  on  the  bare  back,  the  blows  cut- 
ting deep  into  the  quivering  flesh. 

"Zeb  Ward  became  warden  of  the  prison  in  1854. 
He  leased  it  at  six  thousand  a  year  and  made  one 
hundred  thousand  out  of  the  lease  in  four  years. 
To  do  this  he  literally  killed  two  hundred  and  fifty 
out  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  prisoners. 
Ward  was  one  of  the  strangest  men  I  ever  knew, 
physically  handsome,  socially  magnetic,  but  utterly 
devoid  of  heart  or  conscience.  He  was  a  gambler, 
libertine  and  murderer  under  cover  of  the  law. 
When  he  took  the  keys  of  the  prison  he  said: 
"Men,  I'm  a  man  of  few  words  and  prompt 
action.  I  came  here  to  make  money,  and  I'll  do 
it  if  I  kill  you  all." 

"He  was  as  good  as  his  promise.  During  his 
wardenship  and  that  of  J.  W.  South,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1858,  I  received  on  my  bared  body 
thirty-five  thousand  stripes,  laid  on  with  a  strap  of 
half-tanned  leather  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  often 
dipped  in  water  to  increase  the  pain.  All  the 
floggings  I  received  under  Ward  were  for  failure 
to  perform  the  tasks  set  for  me  to  do,  generally 
weaving  hemp — two  hundred  and  eighty  yards  a 
day  being  what  I  was  expected  to  perform,  an 
utter  impossibility.  I  was  whipped,  bowed  over 
a  chair  or  some  other  object,  often  seventy  lashes 
four  times  a  day,  every  ten  blows  inflicting  pain 
worse  than  death.  Once  I  received  one  hundred 
and  seven  blows  at  one  time,  particles  of  flesh 
being  thrown   upon   the  wall    several  feet    away. 


236  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

My  weight,  which  was  one  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds  when  I  entered  the  prison,  was  several 
times  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  eighteen  pounds. 
1  have  seen  new  men  in  the  hackHng  house  fall  at 
their  work,  weak  from  flogging,  and  when  taken 
to  the  hospital  die  before  morning  from  pneu- 
monia and  the  strap.  A  remarkable  constitution 
and  great  muscular  strength  were  the  only  thing 
that  saved  my  life.  As  it  was,  I  was  an  old  man 
at  forty. 

"But  there  was  an  occasional  ray  of  sunshine  in 
my  prison  life.  Interest  in  my  case  constantly 
increased,  and  at  last  public  opinion  set  in  in  my 
favor. 

"In  February,  1858,  having  been  pressed  for 
three  years  to  do  so,  I  stood  in  the  prison  chapel 
and  addressed  an  audience  of  several  thousand 
people,  including  the  Governor  and  other  state 
officials.  In  the  course  of  my  sermon — I  had 
been  ordained  a  minister  just  before  my  second 
arrest — I  told  them  that  war  was  inevitable,  and 
that  when  it  came  slavery  would  be  swept  away 
like  chaff.  Lincoln  was  elected  President,  and  in 
less  than  five  years  war  followed. 

"In  September  and  October,  1862,  General 
Bragg  held  Frankfort  for  six  weeks,  and  during 
that  period  three  times  rebel  soldiers  came  to  kill 
me.  Once  with  a  rope  in  hand  they  came  upon 
me  in  the  prison  yard  and  asked  me  where  they 
'could  find  that  damned  nigger-stealer,  Fairbank. ' 
I  sent  them  another  way,  then  hurried  to  Warden 
Whitesides,  a  kindly  and  humane  man, who  took 
charge  of  the  prison  in  1862,  and  he  hide  me.  On 
their  second  visit  we  got  word  of  their  coming  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  237 

I  was  in  hiding  when  they  arrived.  Their  last  visit 
was  unexpected,  and  they  found  me  in  the  prison 
kitchen.  Brought  to  bay,  I  had  to  fight  for  my 
life.  I  caught  up  an  ax  and  planting  myself  in  the 
doorway, said:  'Come  on,  boys;  you  are  not  afraid 
of  me!''  None  of  them  seemed  inclined  to  attack 
me  first,  and  finally  the  whole  party,  several  hun- 
dred strong,  marched  out. 

"The  freedom  for  which  I  had  waited  so  long 
came  two  years  later.  Among  those  whose  friend- 
ship I  gained  during  my  confinement  was  Richard 
T.  Jacobs,  a  wealthy  planter  of  strong  anti-slavery 
tendencies,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
H.  Benton.  Jacobs  often  talked  about  me  with 
his  brother-in-law,  John  C.  Fremont,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  turn  told  my  story  to  President  Lincoln, 
who,  as  after  events  showed,  was  deeply  impressed 
by  it.  Early  in  1864  General  Speed  S.  Fry  was 
sent  from  Washington  to  Kentucky  with  orders  to 
enroll  all  Negroes  whom  he  found  fit  for  military 
service.  Thomas  E.  Bramlette,  then  Governor 
of  Kentucky,  attempted  to  prevent  General  Fry 
from  carrying  out  his  orders,  as  President  Lincoln 
had  expected  he  would,  and  was  ordered  to  Wash- 
ington. Jacob  s,  who  was  Lieutenant  Governor, 
became  Acting  Governor.  On  his  first  day  in 
office  General  Fry  said  to  him:  'Governor,  the 
President  thinks  it  would  be  well  to  make  this 
Fairbank's  day.' 

"He  called  upon  me  that  day  and  told  me  that 
he  was  going  to  turn  me  loose.  Counting  my 
previous  imprisonment,  I  had  spent  seventeen 
years  and  four  months  of  the  best  part  of  my  life 
in   prison.     On  the   evening   after    my  release    I 


238  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

enjoye  /  at  the  Capital  Hotel  in  Frankfort  a 
cordial  reception  by  the  people  of  the  city  and 
distinguished  persons  from  other  parts  of  Kentucky, 
which  I  shall  ever  remember  with  pleasure  as  3 
reunion  after  victory.  Twenty-four  hours  late 
I  crossed  the  Ohio,  and  do  not  believe  me  senti- 
mental when  I  tell  you  that  when  I  found  myself 
once  more  on  the  free  soil  of  the  Buckeye  State  \ 
knelt  down  and  kissed  the  ground. 

"In  the  following  June  occurred  the  event  an- 
ticipation of  which  had  strengthened  and  encour- 
aged me  through  all  those  dark  and  dreary  years 
Previous  to  my  second  imprisonment  I  had  been 
betrothed  to  Mandana  Tileston  of  Williamsburg, 
Massachusetts.  True  as  the  magnet  to  the  poles, 
when  misfortune  again  befell  me  she  left  her  New 
England  home,  engaged  as  a  teacher,  first  in 
Hamilton  and  then  at  Oxford,  Ohio,  waited  and 
watched  over  the  border,  supplied  me  with  every 
comfort  within  her  power,  worked  and  petitioned 
for  my  release  without  ceasing,  and  faithful  to  the 
last,  refused  honorable  alliances  to  wait  the  un- 
certain fate  of  a  prisoner.  It  was  a  happy  day 
indeed  when  we  were  married." 

III.  WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON. 

"Seven  Grecian  cities  fought  for  Homer  dead, 
Through  which  the  living  Homer  begged  his  bread.*' 

If  we  estimate  his  life  by  labors  performed, 
sufferings,  amounting  almost  to  martyrdom,  en- 
dured; unswerving  devotion  to  the  principles  of 
equal  rights  to  all,  William  Lloyd  Garrison  was 
certainly    the    greatest  of  anti-slave  leaders.      He 


JOHN  B.  FRENCH, 

Of  Chicago,   represents  energy  and  pluck.     Is   one  of  the 

most  successful  Caterers  in  the  country. 


239 


240  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

was  born  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  December  loth, 
1805.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Fanny 
Lloyd;  and  his  father,  Abijah  Garrison,  though  a 
sea  captain,  possessed  some  Hterary  ability  and 
ambition. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  house  in  which 
our  hero  was  born  was  overshadowed  by  the 
church  under  whose  altar  the  remains  of  George 
Whitefield  were  buried.  Thus  at  the  very  spot 
where  the  life's  work  of  this  great  advocate  of 
slavery  ended,  God  in  his  providence  raised  up  a 
greater  and  more  zealous  advocate  of  anti-slavery, 
to  rouse  the  people  from  the  lethargy  into  which 
Whitefield  and  his  disciples  wooed  them. 

In  1808  Abijah  deserted  his  wife  and  children, 
never  returning,  leaving  them  to  struggle  for  exist- 
ence as  best  they  could.  William  Lloyd,  or  Lloyd 
as  his  mother  called  him,  was  apprenticed  when 
quite  young  to  learn  the  shoemaker's  trade.  Not 
liking  the  work,  he  was  next  set  to  learn  cabinet- 
making.  This  proving  uncongenial,  his  mother 
secured  him  a  place  in  a  printing  office,  where  he 
mastered  the  business  in  happy  contentment. 

When  but  a  youth,  he  wrote  for  the  "Newbury- 
port Herald,"  and  Boston  papers;  then  at  the  end 
of  his  apprenticeship,  became  the  editor  of  a  new 
paper  in   Newburyport,  called  "The    Free  Press." 

This  paper  was  noted  for  its  high  moral  tone, 
but  like  the  most  of  such  "felt  wants,"  its  exist- 
ence was  brief.  We  next  find  him  in  Boston, 
editor  of  "The  National  Philanthropist,"  said  to 
be  the  first  paper  started  to  advocate  the  doctrine 
of  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating  drinks.  The 
motto    of   the    paper  was  this    truism,  "Moderate 


A  NEW  CENTURY  24J 

drinking  is    the    down-hill   road  to  drunkenness," 
which  was  at  once  expressive  and  original. 

While  editing  this  paper  he  became  acquainted 
with  Benjamin  Lundy,  and  they  felt  mutual  affin- 
ity of  kindred  spirits  from  the  first. 

In  1828  Mr.  Garrison  became  editor  of  "The 
Journal  of  the  Times,"  in  Bennington,  Vermont,  a 
paper  established  to  support  John  Quincy  Adams 
for  the  Presidency.  He  earned  his  salary  by  ably 
supporting  Mr.  Adams,  but  he  also  earned  adverse 
criticism  by  being  the  champion  of  temperance, 
peace  and  the  emancipation  of  slaves. 

Among  his  exchanges  was  Lundy's  "Genius  of 
Universal  Emancipation."  The  reading  of  this 
little  monthly  paper  intensified  his  hatred  of 
slavery;  so  he  wrote  a  petition  to  Congress  for  its 
abolition  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Having 
obtained  a  large  number  of  signatures  by  sending 
it  to  the  different  postmasters  of  Vermont,  he  sent 
it  to  Congress,  where  it  caused  no  little  commotion 
on  being  read.  In  the  fall  of  1829,  Mr.  Garrison 
went  into  partnership  with  his  Quaker  friend 
Lundy;  so  "The  Genius  of  Universal  Emanci- 
pation" was  enlarged  and  issued  weekly  at  Balti- 
more, Md.  But  a  difficulty  presented  itself  to 
the  success  of  the  paper  under  their  joint  manage- 
ment. Mr.  Lundy  favored  a  gradual  emancipation, 
while  Mr.  Garrison  advocated  immediate  eman- 
cipation. At  last,  at  the  suggestion  of  Lundy,  each 
wrote  from  his  own  standpoint,  signing  his  initials 
to  the  articles. 

The  rage  of  the  slave-holders  knew  no  bounds 

when  Garrison  demolished   their   sophistries   and 

subterfuges,  by  which  they  eased  conscience,  with 


242  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

an  invincible  logic,  and  he  insisted  with  voice  of 
thunder  that  it  was  their  duty  to  "break  every 
yoke  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free." 

About  this  time  a  vessel  belonging  to  Francis 
Todd  of  Garrison's  native  town,  Newburyport, 
took  on  a  cargo  of  eighty  slaves  at  Baltimore  for 
New  Orleans.  He  at  once  denounced  it  in  his 
paper,  saying  it  was  not  one  whit  better  than  if 
the  slaves  had  been  brought  from  Africa;  and  the 
law  denounced  foreign  slave-trade  as  piracy.  For 
this  he  was  arrested  and  fined  fifty  dollars,  in  de- 
fault of  which  he  was  sent  to  jail.  To  show  that 
his  brave  spirit  was  neither  crushed  nor  daunted 
by  imprisonment,  he  spent  his  time  in  writing 
against  slavery,  and  inscribing  sonnets  on  the  walls 
of  his  cell.     One  of  them  was  as  follows: 

"Prisoner!  within  these  gloomy  walls  close  pent, 

Guiltless  of  horrid  crime  or  venal  wrong — 
Bear  nobly  up  against  the  punishment, 

And  in  thy  innocence  be  great  and  strong! 
Perchance  thy  fault  was  love  to  all  mankind; 

Thou  didst  oppose  some  vile,  oppressive  law, 
Or  strive  all  human  fetters  to  unbind, 

Or  wouldst  not  bear  the  implements  of  war; — 
What  then?     Dost  thou  so  soon  repent  the  deed? 

A  martyr's  crown  is  richer  than  a  king's! 
Think  it  an  honor  with  the  Lord  to  bleed, 

And  glory  midst  in  tensest  sufferings! 
Though  beat,  imprisoned,  put  to  open  shame, 
Time  shalt  embalm  and  magnify  thy  name." 

John  G.  Whittier,  the  rising  young  Quaker  poet, 
had  recently  succeeded  George  D.  Prentice  as  edi- 
tor of  "The  New  England  Review,"  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  after  Prentice  had  gone  to    Kentucky 


A  NEW  CENTURY  243 

to  write  the  life  of  Henry  Clay  and  edit  "The 
Louisville  Daily  Journal." 

He  was  a  friend  to  Mr.  Garrison,  who  had  pub- 
lished some  of  his  maiden  poems  while  editing 
"The  Free  Press,"  and  an  admirer  of  Henry  Clay. 
Young  Whittier  knew  that  Mr.  Clay  was  a  slave- 
holder, but  he  also  believed  him  a  true  friend  of 
freedom,  judging  from  his  effort  to  check  the  spread 
of  slavery  and  to  ultimately  abolish  it  in  Ken- 
tucky. So  he  wrote  the  great  statesman  on  behalf 
of  the  "guiltless  prisoner,"  at  Baltimore,  begging 
him  to  pay  his  fine  and  "let  the  captive  go  free." 
Mr.  Clay  responded  promptly,  asking  for  partic- 
ulars and  indicating  an  intention  of  complying  with 
the  request.  While  matters  were  thus  pending, 
Arthur  Tappan,  a  wealthy  merchant  in  New  York, 
paid  the  fine  and  costs;  so  the  prisoner  was 
released. 

The  partnership  between  Mr.  Garrison  and  Mr. 
Lundy  was  now  dissolved,  with  the  most  cordial 
feeling  of  friendship,  which  existed  ever  afterwards. 

Seeing  the  apathy  in  regard  to  slavery,  even  in 
liberty-loving  Massachusetts,  Garrison  resolved 
to  start  a  paper  to  be  called  "The  Liberator," 
right  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  near 
Faneuil  Hall,    the  "Cradle  of  Liberty." 

The  first  number  of  this  paper  appeared  in  Jan- 
uary, 183 1,  containing  this  expressive  motto,  "Our 
Country  is  the  World,  Our  Countrymen  are  all 
Mankind."  At  the  expiration  of  four  months  "The 
Liberator"  appeared  with  an  engraved  head  in- 
cluding a  pictorial  representation  of  an  auction, 
with  a  bill  tacked  up  offering  for  sale  "slaves, 
horses  and  other  cattle."     Near  by  is  a  whipping- 


244  ^  NE^  NEGRO  FOR 

post  at  which  a  Negro  slave  is  receiving  punish- 
ment. In  the  background  is  seen  the  capitol  at 
Richmond,  with  a  flag  floating  over  the  dome  in- 
scribed with  the  word  "Liberty."  Even  Garri- 
son's friends  trembled  at  his  fearless  denunciation 
of  slavery.  One  even  suggested  that  he  change 
the  name  of  his  paper  to  "The  Safety  Lamp;"  but 
his  only  reply  was,  "I  will  be  as  harsh  as  truth, 
and  as  uncompromising  as  justice;  I  am  in  ear- 
nest; I  will  not  equivocate;  I  will  not  excuse,  I 
will  not  retreat  a  single  inch  ;   and  I  will  be  heard." 

The  following  outrage  on  free  speech  is  quoted 
from  the  Columbia,  S.  C,  "Telescope"  of  this  pe- 
riod: "Let  us  declare,  through  the  public  jour- 
nals of  our  country,  that  the  question  of  slavery 
is  not  and  shall  not  be  open  to  discussion — that 
the  very  moment  any  private  individual  attempts 
to  lecture  us  upon  its  evils  and  immorality,  in  the 
same  moment  his  tongue  shall  be  cut  out  and  cast 
upon  the  dunghill." 

New  Orleans  offered  twenty  thousand  dollars 
to  any  man  or  set  of  men  who  would  seize  Arthur 
Tappan  of  New  York,  Garrison's  benefactor. 
While  in  the  year  1831,  the  Legislature  of 
Georgia,  the  governor,  Wilson  Lumpbin,  concur- 
ring, passed  a  resolution  offering  a  reward  of  five 
thousand  dollars  for  the  arrest,  prosecution  and 
conviction  under  the  laws  of  that  state,  of  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  editor  of  "The  Liberator." 

The  record  of  it  is  found  in  the  laws  of  Georgia 
for  1 83 1,  page  255.  This  of  course  was  simply  a 
bribe  to  any  ruffian  to  seize  and  kidnap  these  brave 
defenders  of  Liberty. 

On  January  sixth,  1832,  in  the  midst  of    a  tem- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  245 

pest  of  wind  and  hail,  "The  New  England  Anti- 
Slavery  Society"  was  organized,  in  the  basement 
of  the  African  Baptist  church  in  Belknap  Street, 
Boston.  Of  those  present  only  twelve  persons, 
all  white,  signed  the  constitution,  as  follows: 

William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Oliver  Johnson,  Robert 
B.  Hall,  Arnold  Buffum,  Wilham  J.  Snelling, 
John  E.  Fuller,  Moses  Thacher,  Joshua  Coffin, 
Stillman  B.  Newcomb,  Benjamin  C.  Bacon,  Isaac 
Knapp,  Henry  K.  Stockton.  These  might  be 
called  the  "Twelve  Apostles  of  Abolition;"  but 
with  this  humble  origin  the  society  grew  into  a 
mighty  influence  against  slavery.  This  was  the  first 
association  organized  on  the  principle  of  immedi- 
ate emancipation.  Arnold  Buffum  was  chosen 
President,  and  William  L.  Garrison  correspond- 
ing secretary. 

The  Quakers  were  in  the  main  the  friends  of  the 
oppressed,  and  opposers  of  slavery,  but  even  this 
sect  was  by  no  means  a  unit  in  this  particular,  as 
the  following  colloquy  shows:  "Well,  Perez,  I 
hope  thee's  done  running  after  the  Abolitionists," 
said  a  leading  Friend  to  one  of  his  humbler 
brethren.  "Verily  I  have,"  said  Perez;  "I've 
caught  up  with  and  gone  just  a  little  ahead  of 
them." 

Henry  Clay,  and  many  statesmen  and  divines 
of  national  reputation,  favored  the  idea  of  colo- 
nizing the  negroes  in  Africa,  and  a  strong  organ- 
ization know  as  "The  American  Colonization  So- 
ciety" was  formed.  Mr.  Garrison,  having  received 
protests  against  this  society  from  a  number  of 
prominent  colored  men  of  many  Northern  cities, 
published  their  protest, together  with  his  own  views, 


246  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

in  a  large  pamphlet  in  the  spring  of  1832,  called 
"Thoughts  on  African  Colonization."  In  it  he 
shows  ten  objections  to  the  said  society:  "i.  It 
is  pledged  not  to  oppose  the  system  of  slavery. 
2.  It  apologizes  for  slavery  and  slaveholders.  3. 
It  recognizes  slaves  as  property.  4.  It  increases 
the  value  of  slaves.  5.  It  is  the  enemy  of  immedi- 
ate abolition.  6.  It  is  nourished  by  fear  and  sel- 
fishness. 7.  It  aims  at  the  utter  expulsion  of  the 
blacks.  8.  It  is  the  disparager  of  the  free  blacks. 
9.  It  denies  the  possibility  of  elevating  the  blacks 
in  this  country.  10.  It  deceives  and  misleads  the 
nation." 

The  society  never  fully  recovered  from  this 
pamphlet,  which  showed  them  up  in  their  true 
light.  This  colonization  society,  while  claiming 
to  be  in  the  interest  of  the  Negro,  never  thought 
of  consulting  a  colored  man,  bond  or  free,  any 
more  than  a  society  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty 
to  animals  would  consult  the  animals  they  are 
trying  to  protect.  In  sending  the  "niggers"  from 
a  civilized  to  a  barbarous  land,  it  was — 

"Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  but  to  'go'  and  die. " 

Mr.  Garrison  crossed  the  ocean  no  less  man 
five  times,  his  first  trip  occurring  in  the  spring 
of  1833.  In  London  he  was  invited  to  an  honor- 
ary seat  in  conference  on  the  slavery  question, 
where  he  mingled  with  such  men  as  Wilberforce, 
Brougham,  Macaulay,  O'Connell,  Burton  and 
Clarkson.  He  put  into  their  hands  his  "Thoughts 
on  African  Colonization,"  and  brought  home  a 
"Protest"  against  this  colonization  scheme,  signed 


A  NEW  CENTURY  247 

by  four  of  the  great  names  I  have  mentioned  and 
others  of  equal  weight. 

He  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Anti-Slavery 
Conference  of  London  in  1840;  but  when  he 
learned  that  the  conference  refused  to  receive  the 
lady  delegates  on  their  credentials,  he  and  those 
who  came  with  him  took  seats  in  the  gallery  as 
spectators. 

Mr.  Garrison  made  his  third  voyage  in  1846, 
this  time  by  invitation  of  the  Glasgow  Emanci- 
pation Society,  who  desired  him  to  lecture  against 
the  Free  Church,  for  collecting  money  from  the 
Southern  slaveholders. 

His  fourth  visit  to  Europe  was  made  in  May, 
1867,  two  years  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion.  He  joined  his  children  in  Paris,  and 
after  attending  the  Exposition,  went  to  London, 
where  a  great  public  breakfast  was  held  in  his 
honor,  at  St.  James'  Hall.  Among  those  present 
were  Mr.  F.  H.  Morse,  the  American  consul  in 
London,  John  Bright,  John  Stewart  Mill,  and 
other  members  of  Parliament.  John  Bright  pre- 
sided, and  made  the  first  speech.  He  crossed  the 
Atlantic  for  the  fifth  and  last  time  in  company 
with  his  son  Frank  in  1877. 

The  Boston  Mob,  of  "gentlemen  of  property 
and  standing,"  occurred  October  twenty-first,  1835. 
The  occasion  of  it  was  an  advertised  meeting  of 
the  Boston  Female  Anti-Slavery  society,  to  take 
place  at  Anti-Slavery  Hall,  46  Washington  Street. 

The  mayor  of  Boston  took  no  steps  to  prevent 
or  disperse  the  mob  other  than  by  being  present 
and  commanding  the  ladies  to  retire.  Seeing  they 
could    hope  for  no  protection,  they  adjourned  to 


248  ^A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

meet  again  at  the  home  of  one  of  their  number. 
The  mayor  now  advised  Garrison  to  escape  by  a 
window  at  the  rear  of  the  building.  This  he  at- 
tempted to  do,  but  was  seized  by  the  mob  and 
dragged  through  some  of  the  prominent  streets  of 
Boston  with  a  rope  about  his  body,  amid  the  jeer- 
ing and  curses  of  men  thirsting  for  his  blood.  At 
last  the  two  strong  men  who  supported  him  on 
either  side,  and  a  few  friends  and  policemen,  with 
superhuman  effort  forced  their  way  with  him  into 
the  city  hall.  From  here  he  was  committed  to 
jail  ostensibly  as  a  disturber  of  the  peace.  After 
being  hustled  into  a  carriage  in  waiting  at  the 
door, which  the  mob  tried  in  vain  to  upset  or  cap- 
ture, he  was  driven  by  a  circuitous  loute  to  the 
jail  and  locked  behind  the  prison  bars.  Was  he 
crushed  and  discouraged?  No,  a  thousand  times 
no!  It  is  true  a  new  suit  of  clothes  was  torn  to 
shreds;  it  is  true  he  was  buffeted  and  bruised;  it 
is  true  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life;  but  he 
slept  as  sweetly  that  night  as  if  he  had  been  in 
the  bosom  of  his  family.  The  next  morning  he 
wrote  on  the  walls  of  his  cell  the  following  lines: — 

"William  Lloyd  Garrison  was  put  into  this  cell 
on  Wednesday  afternoon,  Oct.  12th,  1835,  to  save 
him  from  the  violence  of  a  'respectable'  and  in- 
fluential mob  who  sought  to  destroy  him  for  preach- 
ing the  abominable  and  dangerous  doctrine  that, 
'all  men  are  created  equal,'  and  that  all  oppres- 
sion is  odious  in  the  sight  of  God. 

"Reader,  let  this  inscription  remain  till  the  last 
slave  in  this  despotic  land  be  loosed  from  his  fet- 
ters," 


A  NEW  CENTURY  249 

"When  peace  within  the  bosom  reigns, 

And  conscience  gives  the  approving  voice,      ^ 
Though  bound,  the  human  form  in  chains. 
Yet  can  the  soul    aloud  rejoice. 
•"Tis  true  my  footsteps  are  confined, 
I  cannot  roam  beyond  this  cell, 
But  what   can  circumscribe  the  mind? 
To  chain  the  winds  attempt  as  well!" 

"Confine  me  as  a  prisoner— but  bind  me  not  as  a  slave. 
Punish  me  as  a  prisoner— but  hold  me  not  as  a  chattel. 
Torture  me  as  a  man— but  drive  me  not  as  a  beast. 
Doubt  my  sanity— but  acknowledge  my  immortality." 

Mr.  Garrison,  like  the  immortal  Bunyan,  seemed 
to  have  his  loftiest  inspiration  when  behind  the 
prison  bars.  Like  flowers  which  exude  their  fra- 
grance only  when  crushed  or  bruised,  persecution 
drove  him  to  poetry.  Garrison  was  released  from 
prison  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  and  at 
the  request  of  the  city  authorities,  took  his  wife, 
who  was  in  critical  health,  and  left  the  city  for  a 
few  days,  until  the  excitement  abated.  But  he 
Hved  to  edit  "The  Liberator,"  until  his  demands 
were  granted,  and  four  million  slaves  were  made 
free.  This  having  been  accomplished,  in  part 
through  the  influence  of  his  paper,  he  deemed  it 
unwise  "to  run  the  mill  after  the  grist  was  out," 
and  the  last  issue  was  published  the  last  week  in 
December,  1865,  making  the  paper  cover  the  full 
period  of  thirty-five  years.  But  he  continued  the 
same  kind  friend  to  the  freedmen  he  had  been  to 
the  slave,  until  his  labor  ended  with  his  life  in 
New  York  City,  Saturday  night  about  eleven  o'clock 
of  May  24th,  1879,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of 
his  age. 


250  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

IV.  ELIJAH  PARISH   LOVEJOY. 

Perhaps  with  the  exception  of  John  Brown's 
attack  at  Harper's  Ferry,  or  the  bombardment  of 
Fort  Sumter,  no  event  in  connection  with  slavery 
produced  more  widespread  excitement  north  and 
south  than  the  murder  of  Lovejoy  at  Alton, 
Illinois,  Nov.,  1837. 

Before  describing  this  startling  event,  it  is  well 
to  consider  something  of  the  man,  and  the  circum- 
stances which  led  up  to  his  untimely  and  cruel 
murder. 

He  was  born  in  Albion,  Maine,  November,  1802, 
and  was  thirty-five  years  of  age  when  killed  by 
the  mob.  His  father,  Daniel  Lovejoy,  was  a  Con- 
gregational minister  and  a  graduate  of  the  well 
known  college  at  Waterville,  Maine. 

When  Elijah  was  a  young  man  there  was  a 
great  tide  of  emigration  from  New  England  to  the 
mighty  West;  drifting  with  this  tide,  he  came  to 
St.  Louis,  where  after  teaching  school  for  a  time, 
he  became  editor  of  a  W^hig  paper  called  the  St. 
Louis  Times.  The  ready  pen  and  stirring  style  of 
the  young  editor  soon  brought  the  paper  into 
prominence,  and  made  it  a  great  expose  of  Whig 
sentiment  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  and  he  bid  fair 
to  make  his  mark  as  a  politician  and  moulder  of 
public  sentiment. 

In  1832  he  experienced  a  remarkable  conversion 
to  the  Christian  faith,  and  became  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  duty  of  preaching  the  gospel. 
Yielding  to  this  conviction,  he  at  once  went  east 
and  entered  the  Princeton  Theological  Seminary, 
and  the  next  year,  1833,  was  licensed  to  preach. 
A  few  months  after  this  he  returned  to  St.  Louis, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  251 

where  he  was  known  as  a  ready  writer,  and  soon 
secured  a  position  as  editor  of  the  "St.  Louis  Ob- 
server," the  leading  organ  of  the  Presbyterians  of 
Missouri  and  Illinois.  His  was  a  remarkable  ca- 
reer at  this  time,  when  we  consider  that  he  was 
not  converted  until  1832, when  he  was  thirty  years 
of  age,  and  became  a  minister,  and  an  influential 
religious  editor  the  next  year;  thus  obtaining  at 
a  single  bound,  among  the  cultured  and  conser- 
vative Presbyterians,  that  which  with  them  was 
often  the  work  of  a  lifetime. 

His  biographer,  Henry  Tanner,  who  was  with 
him  at  the  time  of  his  death,  describes  Mr.  Love- 
joy  as  being  "of  medium  height,  broadly  built, 
muscular,  of  dark  complexion,  black  eyes,  with  a 
certain  twinkle  betraying  his  sense  of  the  humor- 
ous, and  with  a  countenance  expressing  great  kind- 
ness and  sympathy."  He  said  further,  "There 
probably  -had  not  lived  in  this  century  a  man  of 
greater  singleness  of  purpose  in  bearing  witness 
to  the  truth,  more  courageous  in  maintaining 
principle  in  the  face  of  passionate  opposition." 

When  w^e  read  quotations  from  the  "St.  Louis 
Observer"of  this  period  we  are  astonished  that  such 
mild  editorials  should  so  provoke  the  wrath  of  the 
pro-slavery  people.  But  they  were  evidently  de- 
termined to  nip  in  the  bud  and  crush  out  in  its 
incipiency,  any  agitation  of  the  slavery  question, 
knowing  their  position  was  untenable,  and  could 
not  stand  the  light  of  investigation. 

As  a  summary  of  his  views  at  this  time,  I  would 
say  he  favored  the  idea  of  gradual  emancipation 
of  slaves,  to  be  followed  up  by  colonization.  Surely 
this    was  a  very  mild  view  of  the  situation,  when 


252  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

we  consider  that  many  of  the  Southern  slave-hold- 
ers themselves  advocated  the  same  measure.  But 
his  heart  was  grieved  at  the  brutal  treatment  many 
slaves  of  this  period  received  at  the  hands  of  mas- 
ters and  overseers.  Here  he  thought  the  reform 
should  be  thorough  and  immediate.  "For,"  said 
he,  "it  is  fearfully  true  that  many  professed  Chris- 
tians habitually  treat  their  slaves  as  though  they 
had  no  immortal  souls,  and  it  is  high  time  such  a 
practice  as  this  were  abolished."  But  Garrison 
and  his  associates  were  throwing  red-hot  shot  into 
the  pro-slavery  ranks.  "The  Liberator"  and 
"Emancipator"  were  read  in  St.  Louis  and  en- 
raged the  advocates  of  slavery.  In  their  excite- 
ment they  regarded  all  Abolitionists  as  one  and  the 
same  in  their  views,  and  persistently  ignored  Mr. 
Lovejoy's  plea  for  "cool  and  temperate  argument, 
supported  by  facts,"  and  the  following  editorial 
from  his  pen:  "It  has  been  with  pain  that  we 
have  seen,  recently,  the  heated  and  angry  meet- 
ings and  discussions  which  have  taken  place 
amongst  our  eastern  brethren  of  the  abolition 
and  colonization  parties." 

The  excitement  increased  during  the  summer  of 
1845,  until  the  slaveholders  of  St.  Louis  were 
not  willing  to  have  the  subject  discussed,  however 
mildly.  The  articles  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  although 
written  in  a  kind.  Christian  spirit,  became  very 
offensive  to  them.  The  slaveholders  were  ready 
to  tar  and  feather  him,  as  an  Abolitionist,  while 
the  rabble  termed  him  an  amalgamationist.  Yet 
nothing  was  farther  from  his  views. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  main  issue  be- 
tween Lovejoy  and    his    enemies  was   freedom  of 


A  NEW  CENTURY  253 

speech  and  the  freedom  of  the  press.  He  resolved 
to  defend  this  at  all  hazards,  and  they  were  equally 
determined  to  suppress  it. 

Seeini^  he  could  have  no  protection  in  St.  Louis, 
fiom  insL.lt  and  threatened  mob  violence,  Mr. 
Lovejoy  now  determined  to  move  his  paper  to  the 
then  thriving  city  of  Alton,  Illinois,  just  above  St. 
Louis  on  the  river.  Alas!  as  is  so  often  the  case, 
he  escaped  Scylla  only  to  wreck  on  Charybdis, 
as  we  shall  see. 

The  "St.  Louis  Observer"  of  June  21,  1836, 
announced  the  editor's  intention,  but  before  the 
move  could  be  made,  some  ruffians  forced  an  en- 
trance into  his  office  and  destroyed  much  of  the 
property,  including  some  of  the  editor's  furniture, 
which  was  broken  up  and  thrown  into  the  river. 
The  remnant,  including  the  press,  was  shipped  to 
Alton,  where  it  remained  on  the  landing  during 
Sunday,  and  was  broken  to  pieces  and  thrown 
into  the  river  before  Monday  morning.  But  a 
public  meeting  was  promptly  held,  in  which  the 
citizens  denounced  those  who  destroyed  the  press 
and  raised  money  to  buy  a  new  one.  The  new 
press  was  soon  received  and  the  first  number  of 
the  "Alton  Observer"  was  issued  September  8th, 
1836. 

For  nearly  a  year  Lovejoy  enjoyed  a  period  of 
comparative  tranquility,  but  it  was  only  the  calm 
before  the  storm.  Many  Southerners  and  pro- 
slavery  men  came  to  the  thriving  young  city 
These  could  not  tolerate  even  the  mild  anti-slavery 
tone  of  the  "Observer,"  and  used  their  influence 
with  the  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  who 
were  to  be  found  in  every  western  city,  especially 


254  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

river  towns.  Then,  too,  the  great  dailies  of  St. 
Louis  continued  to  harass  him,  and  insist  that 
"something  must  be  done"  to  rid  the  country  of 
this  pestilential  fellow,  who  actually  taught  that 
all  men  were  created  equal.  This  actually  caused 
a  mob  at  Alton  on  Aug.  21st,  1836. 

The  mob  first  attempted  to  assault  Mr.  Love- 
joy  on  the  street  about  nine  o'clock  at  night, while 
returning  home  from  the  drug-store  with  some 
medicine  for  his  sick  wife.  Having  surrounded 
him,  the  cry  was,  "Rail  him,  rail  him,"  "Tar  and 
feather  him!"  Turning  to  the  leaders,  he  said  in 
calm  tone,  "I  have  one  request  to  make  of  you, 
and  then  you  can  do  with  me  what  you  please. 
My  wife  is  at  home  sick  in  bed;  send  one  of  your 
number  to  take  this  medicine  to  her,  and  let  it  be 
done  without  alarming  her."  This  they  promised 
to  do,  and  one  of  the  men  started  with  the  medi- 
cine at  once.  But  the  calm  demeanor  of  Lovejoy, 
together  with  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  in  refer- 
ence to  his  sick  wife,  touched  the  hearts  of  some 
of  them  and  he  was  permitted  to  go  home  undis- 
turbed. But  the  same  night  they  destroyed  his 
second  press,  type  and  other  material;  yet  money 
was  quickly  raised,  partly  from  different  states, 
and  partly  from  friends  of  free  speech  at  Alton ; 
and  a  third  press  was  on  hand  September  21st, 
1837.     It  was  taken  to  a  warehouse  and  stored. 

The  mayor,  John  M.  Krum,  offered  to  guard  it, 
and  did  so  by  placing  one  constable  at  the  door 
of  the  warehouse  until  about  midnight.  But,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  the  officer  had  hardly 
gone,  when  about  a  dozen  ruffians  broke  in  the 
warehouse  door,  dragged  the  press  to  the  river  and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  255 

after  demolishing  it,  threw  the  fragments  into 
that  common  receptacle  of  Lovejoy's  property, 
the  river.  About  ten  days  after  this  event,  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  with  his  wife  and  babe,  were  spending 
some  time  with  his  wife's  mother  at  St.  Charles, 
Missouri.  He  had  preached  morning  and  evening 
on  that  peaceful  Sabbath,  and  about  nine  o'clock 
was  enjoying  a  conversation  with  his  friend  Rev. 
Mr.  Campbell,  when  a  knock  was  heard  at  the 
door.  On  opening  it,  he  saw  a  number  of  men 
*on  the  portico  and  in  the  yard.  The  two  leaders, 
formerly  from  Virginia  and  Missouri,  rushed  into 
the  house  and  attempted  to  pull  him  out.  But 
with  the  help  of  his  heroic  wife,  her  mother  and 
sister,  the  two  men  were  driven  from  the  room. 
The  drunken  mob  again  returned  to  the  charge, 
and  rushing  into  the  room, they  attempted  to  drag 
him  out,  and  might  have  succeeded,  had  it  not 
been  for  his  friend  Campbell  It  required  the  ut- 
most exertion  of  their  united  efforts  to  force  the 
mob  from  the  room  and  clear  the  house.  The 
fiends  even  made  a  third  attempt  to  force  an  en- 
trance, after  which  it  was  thought  best  for  Love- 
joy  to  leave  the  house  that  night.  Groping  through 
the  darkness  to  a  house  of  a  friend,  he  procured 
a  horse  and  arrived  at  Alton  the  next  day. 

Money  for  a  fourth  press  was  raised, it  is  thought 
by  friends  of  free  speech  in  Ohio,  and  was  shipped 
from  Cincinnati  to  Alton,  It  was  received  by  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Lovejoy,  about  midnight  of  No- 
vember 6,  1837,  and  stored  in  the  warehouse  of 
Godfrey  and  Oilman,  the  leading  firm  in  the  city. 
Mr.  Oilman,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  warehouse, 
called  for  volunteers  to  guard  it  during  the  night; 


256  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

nineteen  responded,  among  them  Mr.  Lovejoy. 
The  mob  soon  began  to  gather,  when  two  of  their 
number,  Keating  and  West,  were  unwisely  admit- 
ted inside  the  building  to  confer  with  Mr.  Oilman. 
Of  course  they  saw  how  few  were  on  guard  and 
immediately  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  press, 
threatening  to  blow  or  burn  up  the  building  in 
case  of  refusal.  Most  of  those  in  the  warehouse 
were  anxious  to  fire  on  the  mob  from  the  window 
as  soon  as  they  got  in  range,  hoping  to  repulse 
them  at  once.  But  Captain  Long  would  not  let 
them  fire  until  the  mob  was  close  up  to  the  build- 
ing and  had  fired  into  the  door.  He  then  ordered 
one  of  his  men  to  return  the  fire;  he  did  so  and 
killed  one  of  the  mob,  a  man  named  Bishop.  This 
caused  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  a  moment,  but 
the  mob  was  soon  reinforced  by  a  lot  of  ruffians 
who  had  been  drinking  to  stimulate  their  courage. 
They  now  made  a  desperate  charge,  shouting  "Fire 
the  building,  and  shoot  every  Abolitionist  as  he 
tries  to  escape!"  An  effort  was  now  made  to  fire 
the  building.  For  this  purpose  a  long  ladder  was 
placed  on  the  side  where  there  were  no  windows. 
Soon  a  man  mounted  the  ladder  with  a  lighted 
torch  and  attempted  to  set  fire  to  the  shingles, 
which  fortunately  were  damp  with  a  heavy  dew, 
and  slow  to  kindle  into  a  flame.  Captain  Long 
now  called  for  volunteers  to  fight  their  way  to  the 
ladder  and  throw  it  down.  Amos  B.  Roff,  Royal 
Weller  and  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  against  the  protest 
of  his  friends,  promptly  attempted  this  fatal  mis- 
sion. As  they  stepped  from  the  door  into  the 
bright  moonlight  a  perfect  fusillade  was  fired  at 
them   from  a  pile  of    lumber    near  by.      Roff   and 


DR.  I.  B.  SCOTT, 

Editor  of  the  Southwestern   Christian  Advocate,   New  Or- 
leans, La. 


257 


258  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Weller  were  both  wounded, but  the  fire  seemed  to 
be  concentrated  upon  Mr.  Lovejoy,who  must  have 
been  recognized  in  the  bright  moonlight.  He  re- 
ceived five  balls  in  his  body,  but  had  strength 
enough  to  run  back  into  the  house  and  up  the 
stairs,  crying  as  he  went,  "I  am  shot!  I  am  shot! 
I  am  dead!" 

These  were  his  last  words;  his  friends  laid  him 
on  the  floor,  where  he  instantly  expired. 

The  mob  then  seized  the  fourth  press  and  de- 
stroyed it.  The  citizens  of  Alton  generally,  ap- 
peared to  sympathize  with  the  mob;  for  when 
Mrs.  Graves,  the  wife  of  the  Presbyterian  pastor, 
in  his  absence,  rang  the  bell  of  her  church,  not  far 
off,  until  she  exhausted  herself,  not  one  of  the 
citizens  appeared  to  defend  a  minister  who  was 
about  to  be  murdered.  It  seems,  too,  that  Mr. 
Lovejoy  rather  expected  to  be  murdered,  as  was 
seen  by,  perhaps,  the  last  public  speech  he  made 
after  being  mobbed  at  St.  Charles.  At  his  own 
request  he  was  buried  at  Alton.  Thus  lived  and 
died  one  of  the  noblest  and  bravest  defenders  of 
free  speech  and  civil  liberty  the  century  has  pro- 
duced. Mob  law  was  thus  triumphant,  but  it 
was  a  dear-bought  victory  for  Alton.  She  could 
destroy  four  presses  for  Mr.  Lovejoy,  but  she 
could  not  destroy  that  mighty  palladium  of  liberty 
throughout  the  Union.  All  the  invective  of  con- 
temporary journalism  was  hurled  at  Alton.  Com- 
merce shunned  it  as  a  plague-spot,  and  emigrants 
avoided  it  as  a  valley  of  death.  A  store  built  by 
Mr.  Tanner  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  thousand  was 
sold  by  him  for  less  than  half  that  amount,  and 
offered  back  to  him  for  two  thousand. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  259 

Many  of  her  best  and  wealthiest  citizens  moved 
away.  Her  empty  warehouses  crumbled  into  the 
river,  or  became  the  haunts  for  bat  and  owl. 

As  a  city,  it  seemed  to  be  under  the  bane  of 
Him  who  came  "to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  cap- 
tives," saying  also,  "Touch  not  mine  anointed 
and  do  my  prophets  no  harm." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
BLACK  PHALANX  IN  THE  REBELLION. 


From  the  time  the  first  mutterings  of  Rebellion 
were  heard,  and  the  war  cloud  no  larger  than  a 
man's  hand  appeared  on  our  country's  horizon, 
the  Negro  believed,  with  an  unswerving  faith, 
that  slavery  was  the  one  cause  of  war;  that  God 
was  now  ready  to  punish  the  despoiler,  and  let 
the  oppressed  go  free.  The  chorus  of  his  favorite 
song  of  this  period  was,  "It  must  be  now  that  the 
kingdom  am  coming,  and  the  year  of  jubilee." 

Naturally  he  was  anxious  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  help  save  the  country  by  putting  down  the  Re- 
bellion, and  thereby  proving  himself  worthy  of  the 
coveted  boon  of  freedom. 

But  alas  for  the  suicidal  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment, he  was  forced  to  conquer  race  prejudice, 
and  the  most  determined  opposition,  before  he 
was  permitted  to  face  the  enemy  on  the  field  of 
battle.  In  short,  they  did  not  believe  that  the 
Negro  would  fight,  and  seemingly  demanded  that 
he  should  prove  himself  a  soldier  before  facing 
the  enemy;  reminding  one  of  the  father  who  told 

260 


A  NEW  CENTURY  261 

his  boys  never  to  go  near  the  water  until  they  had 
learned  to  swim;  or  the  Irishman  who    could  not 
get  on  his  boots  until  he  had  worn   them   awhile. 
TheNew  York  "Times"  of  February  16,  1863,  in 
an  editorial  summed  up  the  objections  to  enlisting 
Negroes  as    follows:      "First— That    the  Negroes 
will  not  fight.      Second— It  is  said  that  the  whites 
will  not  fight  with  them,  that  the  prejudice  against 
them  is  so  strong  that  our  citizens  will  not   enlist 
or  will   quit  the    service   if    compelled  to  fight  by 
their  side,  and  thus  we  shall  lose  two  white  soldiers 
for  one  black  one  that  we  gain.     Third — It  is  said 
we  shall  get  no  Negroes— or  not    enough  to  prove 
of  any  service.      In   the   free   states   very  few  will 
volunteer,  and  in  the  slave  states  we  can  get    but 
few,  because   the    rebels   will    push    them   south- 
ward as  fast  as  we  advance  upon  them.      Fourth — 
The    use  of    Negroes   will    exasperate    the  South. 
We  presume  it  will;   but  so  will  any  other  scheme 
we  may  adopt  which  is  warlike  and  effective  in  its 
character  and  results.   We  are  not  ready  with  Mr. 
Vallandigham,  to  advocate  'immediate  and  uncon- 
ditional peace.'      The  best  thing  we  can   do  is  to 
possess  ourselves  in  patience  while  the  experiment 
is  being  tried,'''' 

The  President  and  Secretary  of  War  and  a  large 
majority  of  the  generals  in  the  army  acted  on  the 
theory,  "This  is  a  white  man's  war.  and  the  Ne- 
gro has  no  lot  or  part  in  it."  They  seemed  to  be 
blind  to  the  fact  that  Negro  slavery  had  been  the 
disturbing  element  in  the  nation  for  about  a  cen- 
tury and  was  the  real  casus  belli,  the  election  of 
Lincoln  being  only  the  immediate  occasion.  More- 
over, the  Union  army  was  turned  into  a  gigantic 
slave-catching  institution. 


262  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Even  General  McClellan,  "whose  pen  was 
mightier  than  his  sword,"  when  commander-in 
chief,  paused  long  enough  in  his  demands  on  the 
war  department  for  more  men  (to  drill  and  send 
home  on  furloughs),  to  issue  a  proclamation  from 
"Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Potomac,  July  7, 
1862,"  in  which  among  other  things  he  announced 
that  "neither  confiscation  of  property,  political 
execution  of  persons,  territorial  organization  of 
states,  nor  forcible  abolition  of  slavery,  should  be 
contemplated   for  a  moment." 

In  a  speech  made  in  the  early  days  of  the  war 
at  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  Charles  Sumner  said, 
"I  do  not  say  carry  the  war  into  Africa,  but  carry 
Africa  into  the  war." 

The  honor  of  organizing  the  first  regiment  of 
colored  soldiers  during  the  civil  war  belongs  to 
General  David  Hunter,  who,while  commanding  the 
Department  of  the  South,  gave  the  necessary  or- 
ders from  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina,  in  May  of 
1862.  General  Hunter  was  in  advance  of  public 
opinion,  however,  and  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War,  wrote  for  full  information  con- 
cerning the  matter.  The  reply  of  General  Hun- 
ter tended  to  bring  public  opinion  up  to  his  stand- 
ard; especially  where  he  informed  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  that  no  regiment  of  "fugitive  slaves" 
had  been  organized  in  his  department.  He  stated 
that  there  was,  "however,  a  fine  regiment  of  per- 
sons whose  late  masters  are  'fugitive  rebels' — men 
who  everywhere  fly  before  the  appearance  of  the 
national  flag,  leaving  their  servants  behind  them 
to  shift  as  best  they  can  for  themselves.  So  far, 
indeed,  are  the  loyal  persons  composing  this  regi- 


sJ^i^ii^'" 


BISHOP  DANIEL  A.   PAYNE. 


263 


264  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ment  from  seeking  to  avoid  the  presence  of  their 
late  owners,  that  they  are  now,  one  and  all, work- 
ing with  remarkable  industry  to  place  themselves 
in  a  position  to  go  in  full  and  effective  pursuit  of 
their  fugacious  and  traitorous  proprietors."  Gen- 
eral Hunter  explained  to  Mr.  Stanton,  that  he  was 
acting  under  instructions  issued  by  Hon.  Simon 
Cameron,  late  Secretary  of  War,  to  his  predeces- 
sor General  Thomas  W.  Sherman,  who  turned 
them  over  to  him  for  his  instruction  and  guidance. 
Said  instruction  authorized  him  "to  employ  all 
loyal  persons  offering  their  services  in  defense  of 
the  Union,  and  the  suppression  of  this  Rebellion." 

He  continues:  "The  loyal  slaves  everywhere 
remaining  on  their  plantations  to  welcome  us,  aid 
us,  and  supply  us  with  food,  labor  and  infor- 
mation," filled  this  requirement  exactly,  and  as  they 
were  the  only  men  who  were  loyal,  he  had  organized 
them  into  a  regiment  and  detailed  officers  to  drill 
them.  He  closed  his  letter  by  stating,  "The  ex- 
periment of  arming  the  blacks,  so  far  as  I  have 
made  it,  has  been  a  complete  and  even  marvelous 
success.  They  are  sober,  docile,  attentive  and 
enthusiastic;  displaying  great  natural  capacities 
for  acquiring  the  duties  of  the  soldier.  They  are 
eager,  beyond  all  things,  to  take  the  field  and  be 
led  into  action;  and  it  is  the  unanimous  opinion 
of  the  officers  who  have  had  charge  of  them  that 
in  the  peculiarities  of  this  climate  and  country 
they  will  prove  invaluable  auxiliaries." 

With  General  B.  F.  Butler,  the  idea  of  using 
Negroes  as  soldiers  seems  to  have  been  a  gradual 
growth  in  grace,  but  he  was  at  last  soundly  con- 
verted.  While  in  Maryland  he  offered  to  co-operate 


A  NEW  CENTURY  265 

with  Governor  Hicks  in  suppressing  any  insurrec- 
tion of  the  slaves  against  the  laws  of  the  state. 
In  New  Orleans  he  permitted  a  rebel  slaveholder 
to  enter  his  camp,  and  seize  a  mulatto,  who  was 
nearly  white,  after  he  had  enlisted  and  donned 
the  Federal  uniform.  Before  this,  General  Butler 
had  called  the  slaves  who  came  into  his  lines,"con- 
traband  of  war"  and  set  them  to  work,  thus  rec- 
ognizing property  in  man,  and  rating  Negroes 
with  mules,  muskets  or  other  munitions  of  war. 
But  he  seemed  to  think  more  favorably  of  free 
Negroes,  and  finding  the  idea  growing  popular  at 
the  North,  he  on  the  twenty-second  of  August, 
1862,  issued  an  appeal  to  the  free  men  of  color 
in  New  Orleans,  to  volunteer  their  services  as 
soldiers  in  defense  of  the  Union,  which  met  with 
a  hearty  response.  From  this  time  on  he  was  a 
strong  advocate  of  employing  Negro  soldiers,  and 
afterwards  ably  championed  their  cause  on  the 
floor  of  Congress. 

General  John  Charles  Fremont,  having  been  ap- 
pointed to  the  command  of  the  Western  Depart- 
ment with  his  headquarters  at  St.  Louis,  gave  a 
new  claim  to  his  title  of  "pathfinder"  by  finding 
at  once  a  way  of  success  for  the  Union  army,  and 
freedom  for  the  slave,  by  the  aggressive  action  of 
an  emancipation  proclamation.  This  was  issued 
August  thirty-first,  1861.  It  proclaimed  that  "the 
property,  real  and  personal,  of  all  persons  in  the 
State  of  Missouri  who  shall  take  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  or  shall  be  directly  proven  to 
have  taken  active  part  with  their  enemies  in  the 
field,  is  declared  to  be  confiscated  to  the  public 
use,  and    slaves,  if  any  they  have,  are  hereby  de- 


266  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

clared  free  men."  You  will  observe  that  he  did 
not  refer  to  Negroes  as  personal  property  or  "con- 
traband of  war,"  but  free  men. 

President  Lincoln  regarded  this  proclamation 
as  premature,  and  annulled  it;  still  it  tended  to 
pave  the  way  for  his  great  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation. 

After  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson,  February  six- 
teenth, 1862,  General  Grant  had  backbone 
enough  to  send  out  the  following  order,  which 
was  the  first  of  the  kind  issued  during  the  war,  and 
was  not  only  in  accord  with  the  highest  military 
wisdom,  but  consonant  with  the  dictates  of  hu- 
manity and  common  sense. 

"Headquarters,  District  of  West  Tenn. 
Fort  Donelson,  Feby.  26,    1862. 

"I.  General  Order  No.  3,  series  1861,  from 
Headquarters  Department  of  Missouri,  is  still  in 
force  and  must  be  observed.  The  necessity  of  its 
strict  enforcement  is  made  apparent  by  the  nu- 
merous applications  from  citizens  for  permission  to 
pass  through  the  camps  to  look  for  fugitive  slaves. 
In  no  case  whatever  will  permission  be  granted  to 
citizens  for  this  purpose. 

"H.  All  slaves  at  Fort  Donelson  at  the  time  of 
its  capture  and  all  slaves  within  the  line  of  military 
occupation  that  have  been  used  by  the  enemy  in 
building  fortifications,  or  in  any  manner  hostile  to 
the  Government,  will  be  employed  by  the  quarter- 
master's department  for  the  benefit  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  will  under  no  circumstances  be  per- 
mitted to  return  to  their  master. 

"HI.    It  is  made  the  duty  of  all    officers  of  this 


A  NEW  CENTURY  267 

command  to  see  that  all  slaves  above  indicated  are 
promptly  delivered  to  the  chief  quartermaster  of 
the  district." 

"By  order  of  Brigadier  General  U.  S.  Grant. 
"John  A.  Rawlins,  A.  A.  G." 

The  "silent-man-on-horseback"  did  not  often 
speak,  but  when  he  did,  it  was  to  the  point  and 
purpose. 

The  honor  belongs  to  Governor  Sprague  of 
Rhode  Island  for  making  the  first  official  call  for 
Negro  troops  at  the  North.  This  appeal  to  the 
colored  citizens  of  that  state  was  issued  August 
fourth,  1862.  But  the  palm  for  actually  raising 
the  first  colored  regiment  was  won  by  one  of  the 
youngest  of  the  sisterhood  of  states,  even  bleeding 
Kansas.  This  regiment  was  recruited  in  the  sum- 
mer and  fall  of  1862.  Was  organized  at  Fort 
Scott  by  Colonel  James  M.  Williams  January 
fourth,  1863,  and  was  ready  to  take  the  field  the 
following  May.  It  is  thought  the  reason  Kansas 
led  the  Northern  States  in  raising  colored  troops, 
was  the  fact  that  she  had  not  yet  accomplished  the 
days  of  her  moutning  for  the  martyrdom  of  John 
Brown. 

Governor  Andrew  of  Massachusetts,  having  ob- 
tained authority  from  Secretary  Stanton  to  raise 
a  number  of  colored  regiments,  hurried  home 
from  Washington  and  sent  out  his  first  order  Feb- 
ruary ninth,  1863.  But  owing  to  past  disappoint- 
ment, having  been  spurned  and  insulted  when 
they  were  eager  to  preserve  their  country,  the  re- 
sponse of  the  "persons  of  African  descent"  was  not 
hearty.      Moreover,  Massachusetts  had  but  a  small 


268  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

colored  population.  In  this  emergency  the  Gov- 
ernor sought  help  from  the  adjoining  state.  He 
dispatched  Mayor  G.  L.  Stearns  to  lay  the  case 
before  the  great  leader  and  champion  of  his  race, 
Frederick  Douglass,  then  living  and  publishing 
his  monthly  at  Rochester,  New  York. 

As  a  result  of  the  visit  Mr.  Douglass  pub- 
lished a  stirring  appeal  in  the  March  number  of 
his  monthly  of  that  year.  This  appeal  had  the 
desired  effect;  large  numbers  (including  two  of 
Douglass'  sons)  went  over  into  Massachusetts  and 
helped  them  fill  up  the  ranks.  When  ready  to 
take  the  field  they  intended  marching  through 
New  York  City,  but  the  chief  of  police  notified 
Governor  Andrew  that  he  would  be  unable  to  pro- 
tect the  colored  troops  from  being  mobbed  by  the 
foreign  ruffians,  and  rebel  sympathizers  who  had 
already  tasted  blood  by  mobbing  inoffensive  Ne- 
groes, looting  and  burning  a  colored  orphan's 
home. 

Tammany  is  usually  represented  by  a  tiger, 
but  this  time  a  dog  in  the  manger  would  have 
been  more  appropriate.  Not  wishing  to  compli- 
cate matters,  or  spill  unnecessary  blood,  they 
sailed  around  New  York  to  meet  the  other  rebels 
in  the  South. 

But  a  change  of  sentiment  rapidly  took  place  and 
the  colored  troops  scored  a  victory,  even  against 
the  mobocracy  of  the  metropolis.  When  the 
Twentieth  Regiment  Colored  U.  S.  Troops  was 
ready  to  leave  its  rendezvous  on  Ricker's  Island 
for  service,  the  members  of  the  Union  League 
Club  and  other  friends  proposed  to  give  it  a  recep- 
tion in  New  York  City,  but  some  of  the  committee 


A  NEW  CENTURY  269 

did  not  wish  to   expose   the   soldiers  to  mob  vio^ 
lence  and  were  timid,  to  say  the  least.    It  was  de^ 
cided  to  inform  the  commander  of  the  regiment, 
Colonel  Bartram,  of  their  apprehensions,  and  ask 
him  if  he  thought  he  could  get  through    the    city. 
To  which  the  brave   commander   replied:     "Give 
me    room    to  land    my  regiment,  and  if  it  cannot 
march   through    New  York,  it  is  not  fit  to  go  into 
the  field."     This  settled  the    matter.      The  police 
cleared  a  space    for    it    to    land    at    Thirty-sixth 
Street;   and  with  fixed  bayonets,  loaded  muskets, 
martial  music    and    company  front,  they  marched 
through  the  most   aristocratic   streets  of  the  city. 
Their  manly  appearance  and  miHtary  bearing  pro- 
duced the  wildest  enthusiasm  and  cheering  among 
the  very  cowardly  ruffians  who  had  wreaked  their 
vengeance  on  an  orphan's  home, a  short  time  since. 
The  march  became  a  triumphal  procession,  a  per- 
fect ovation,  as  a  hundred  thousand  loyal  citizens, 
including    some  of  the    most  wealthy   and  refined 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  showed    their  approval    by 
encouraging  plaudits,  enthusiastic   cheering,  wav- 
ing handkerchiefs  and  showering   them  with  bou- 

^But  if  Frederick   Douglass  could  by  his  match- 
less eloquence  inspire  his   people  to  go  to  war,  a 
worthy    contemporary,    Aunty  Sojourner    Truth 
could    by  means  of  a    song  which    she    composed 
keep  up  the  inspiration  after  they  reached  the  front 
She  composed  this  song  for  "her  boys,"  the  colored 
regiment  from  Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  but  it  soon 
became  a  favorite  with    all    the    colored  soldiers 
An  old  veteran  told  the  writer  he  once  heard  a  black 
regiment  sing  it  just  before  a  battle  and  they  made 


270  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  welkin  ring,  and  inspired  all  who  heard  it. 
Imagine  a  thousand  Negro  soldiers  singing  the 
following  lines  to  the  tune  of  "John  Brown's 
Body." 

THE    VALIANT    SOLDIERS. 

We  are  the  valiant  soldiers  who've  'listed  for  the  war; 
We  are  fighting  for  the  Union,  we  are  fighting  for  the  law, 
V/e  can  shoot  a  rebel  farther  than  a  white  man  ever  saw, 
As  we  go  marching  on. 

Chorus. — 

Glory,  glory,  hallelujah!     Glory,  glory,  hallelujah! 
Glory,  glory,  hallelujah,  as  we  go  marching  on. 

Look  there  above  the  center,  where  the  flag  is  waving  bright; 
We  are  going  out  of  slavery,  we  are  bound  for  freedom's  light, 
We  mean  to  show  Jeff  Davis  how  the  Africans  can  fight, 
As  we  go  marching  on. — Chq. 

We  are  done  with  hoeing  cotton,  we  are  done  with  hoeing  corn; 
We  are  colored  Yankee  soldiers,  as  sure  as  you  are  born; 
WhenMassa  hears  us  shouting,  he  will  think  'tis  Gabriel's  horn. 
As  we  go  marching  on. — Cho. 

They  will  have  to  pay  us  wages,  the  wages  of  their  sin; 

They  will  have  to  bow  their  foreheads  to  their  colored  kith  and 

kin; 
They  will  have  to  give  us  houseroom,  or  the  roof  will  tumble  in, 
As  we  go  marching  on. — Cho. 

We  hear  the  proclamation,  massa,  hush  it  as  you  will; 
The  birds  will  sing  it  to  us,  hopping  on  the  cotton  hill; 
The  possum  up  the  gum  tree  couldn't  keep  it  still. 
As  he  went  climbing  on. — Cho. 

Father  Abraham  has  spoken,  and  the  message  has  been  sent; 
The  prison  doors  have  opened  and  out  the  prisoners  went 
To  join  the  sable  army  of  African  descent, 
As  we  go  marching  on. — Cho. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  271 

But  how  did  they  behave  themselves  under  fire, 
what  did  they  do  in  battle?  They  did  what 
would  be  naturally  expected,  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  behind  them  were  chains  and  slavery; 
in  their  immediate  presence  the  rebel  procla- 
mation of  "no  quarter  for  Negroes,"  while  before 
them  was  the  bright  star  of  freedom  beckoning 
them  on  to  a  happier  and  independent  life. 

"They  fought  like  brave  men"  nobly  well; 

"They  piled  the  ground  with"  rebels  slain; 
"They  conquered,  but"  a  thousand  fell, 
"Bleeding  in  every  vein." 

Truly  does  George  W.  Williams,  himself  a 
colored  veteran,  say  in  his  "History  of  the  Negro 
Troops  in  the  Rebellion,"  "The  part  enacted  by 
the  Negro  troops  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  is  the 
romance  of  North  American  History."  But  it 
may  be  objected  that  /le  is  a  partial  witness.  True, 
but  he  was  t/iere^  and  a  man  who  was  present 
certainly  knows  more  about  it  than  another  who 
was  afraid  to  go.  We  will  presently  introduce 
witnesses  who  were  opposed  to  the  use  of  the 
Negro  as  a  soldier. 

Even  President  Lincoln  remarked  to  Dr.  Patten 
of  Chicago,  when  urged  to  press  the  Negro  into 
service,  "If  we  were  to  arm  them  I  fear  that  in  a 
few  weeks  the  arms  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
rebels."  So  it  was  with  many  misgivings  they 
were  at  last  permitted  to  face  the  enemy.  Early 
in  their  military  career  they  were  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  prove  their  valor  by  a  desperate  encoun- 
ter at  Fort  Wagner,  Port  Hudson,  and  the  mine 
explosion  at  Petersburg;  still  each  time  they  met 
the  enemy  like  heroes  and    veterans,  and  by  their 


2^2  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

indomitable  courage  and  enthusiasm  conquered 
the  prejudice  of  the  Union  men  who  at  first  op- 
posed their  enlistment. 

At  Fort  Wagner  near  Charleston  the  wealthy  and 
cultured  young  Colonel  R.  G.  Shaw  commanded 
the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts  colored  regiment. 
To  get  to  this  battle  they  had  made  a  forced  march 
of  a  day  and  night  without  food  or  rest;  over 
shifting  sands  and  under  a  broiling  sun,  during  the 
day,  and  through  darkness  and  a  drenching  rain 
at  night.  They  reached  General  Strong's  head- 
quarters at  six  o'clock  on  the  memorable  morning 
just  as  they  were  forming  the  line  of  battle,  and 
without  stopping  for  rest  or  food,  they  proudly 
took  their  place  at  the  head  of  the  assaulting 
column. 

General  Strong  and  Colonel  Shaw  each  made 
burning  patriotic  speeches  inspiring  their  men  to 
be  eager  for  deeds  of  valor  or  a  glorious  death. 
After  about  half  an  hour  General  Strong  gave  the 
order  to  charge,  and  onward  swept  the  troops  led 
by  the  gallant  Negro  regiment,  nor  were  they 
checked  by  the  galling  fire  from  the  ramparts  of 
Fort  Wagner,  or  the  destructive  cross-fire  which 
raked  them  from  Cummings  Point  and  Sumter. 
Rushing  across  the  ditch  with  irresistible  force,  the 
regiment  reached  the  parapet  and  there  planted 
their  flag.  But  at  this  critical  moment  the  gallant 
General  Strong  was  mortally  wounded,  "and  here," 
in  the  language  of  Williams,  "the  brave,  beautiful 
and  heroic  Colonel  Shaw  was  saluted  by  death 
and  kissed  by  immortality."  But  his  regiment  in 
this  charge  through  the  very  jaws  of  death  had 
actually  gained    the    inside  of  the    fort,  and    had 


A  NEW  CENTURY  273 

they  been  strongly  supported  Wagner  would    un- 
doubtedly have  been  taken. 

Colonel  Shaw's  regiment  numbered  about  six 
hundred  enlisted  men  and  twenty  officers  which 
helped  in  this  battle.  Of  the  privates,  thirty-one 
were  killed,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  wounded, 
and  ninety-two  missing.  Of  the  twenty-two 
officers  three  were  killed  and  eleven  wounded. 
Thus  we  find  that  more  than  half  the  officers  were 
killed  or  wounded,  and  nearly  half  of  the  privates 
were  either  killed,  wounded  or  missing.  Although 
the  assault  on  Wagner  was  a  military  failure,  for 
in  war  nothing  succeeds  but  success,  still  it  effec- 
tually demonstrated  that  the  Negro  troops  were 
among  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  and  it  tended  to 
silence  the  scoffing  contempt  and  ridicule  of  the 
stay-at-home  Negro-doubters. 

Delighted  with  their  gallant  conduct.  General 
Gillmore  presented  medals  to  the  following  soldiers 
of  the  glorious  Fifty-fourth  colored  regiment:  Ser- 
geants Robert  J.  Simmons  and  William  H.  Carney; 
Corporal  Henry  F.  Peal  and  Private  George  Wil- 
son. In  this  charge  John  Wall,  the  Negro  color 
bearer,  was  killed,  but  WilHam  H.  Carney  seized 
the  standard  and  bore  it  to  the  parapet,  but  after 
receiving  several  severe  wounds,  one  of  which 
mangled  his  arm,  he  brought  the  tattered  banner 
to  the- rear  in  his  clenched  teeth,  stained  with  his 
own  blood,  and  shouted  to  his  comrades,  "Boys, 
it  never  teched  the  ground!" 

When  a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  to  the  enemy  to 
claim  Colonel  Shaw's  body,  a  rebel  officer  replied, 
"We  buried  him  with  his  niggers  '^  They  thought 
thus   to  heap   odium   on  this    dead  hero,  but   the 


274  ^  ^^EJV  NEGRO  FOR 

effort  was  a  failure.  At  the  request  of  his  parents, 
the  body  was  not  disturbed,  but  the  gallant  young 
officer  and  his  black  comrades  were  permitted  to 
sleep  on  in  a  common  grave.  Thus  united  in  life, 
in  death  they  were  not  separated. 

"'They  buried  him  with  his  niggers!' 

Together  they  fought  and  died; 
There  was  room  for  them  all  where  they  laid  him, 

(The  grave  was  deep  and  wide) 
For  his  beauty  and  youth  and  valor, 

Their  patience  and  love  and  pain; 
And  at  the  last  day  together 

They  shall  all  be  found  again. 

*They  buried  him  with  his  niggers!' 

Earth  holds  no  prouder  grave; 
There  is  not  a  mausoleum 

In  the  world  beyond  the  wave 
That  a  nobler  tale  has  hallowed 

Or  a  purer  glory  crowned, 
Than  the  nameless  trench  where  they  buried 

The  brave  so  faithful  found. 

•They  buried  him  with  his  niggers!" 

A  wide  grave  should  it  be; 
They  buried  more  in  that  shallow  trench 

Than  human  eye  could  see. 
Ay,  all  the  shams  and  sorrows 

Of  more  than  a  hundred  years 
Lie  under  the  weight  of  that  Southern  soil, 

Despite  those  cruel  sneers, 

*They  buried  him  with  his  niggers!' 

But  the  glorious  souls  set  free 
Are  leading  the  van  of  the  army 

That  fights  for  liberty, 
Brothers  in  death,  in  glory 

The  same  palm  branches  bear, 
And  the  crown  is  as  bright  ovei  the  sable  brows 

As  over  the  golden  hair." 


A  NEW  CENTURY  275 

The  Union  army  was  anxious  to  capture  Port 
Hudson,  that  the  "Mississippi  might  go  unvexed 
to  the  sea." 

Two  of  the  colored  companies  or  "Corps  d' 
Afrique,"  which  had  been  organized  by  invitation 
of  General  Butler  at  New  Orleans,  the  First  and 
Third,  took  part  in  this  their  first  engagement. 
They  numbered  one  thousand  and  eighty  men,  and 
were  commanded  respectively  by  Colonel  C.  J. 
Bassett,  and  Colonel  Henry  Finnegas.  Though 
comparatively  raw  recruits,  they  appeared  eager  for 
the  command  to  charge  for  the  enemy's  guns  on  the 
bluff.  At  the  word  they  moved  off  in  quick  time, 
which  was  soon  changed  into  double  quick.  The 
rebels  in  the  fort  reserved  their  fire  until  the  charg- 
ing column  was  within  four  hundred  yards,  then 
instantly  evey  gun  discharged  a  fusillade  of  death- 
dealing  missiles.  In  the  midst  of  fearful  slaughter 
the  shattered  columns  wheeled  to  the  rear  in  good 
order,  reformed  and  again  charged  the  enemy,  but 
the  unceasing  fire  of  grape,  canister,  minie-ball 
and  sixty-two  pound  shot,  were  to  much  for  in- 
fantry in  the  open  field  with  no  chance  to  return 
the  fire.  Moreover,  there  was  a  deep  bayou  to  cross 
and  an  almost  perpendicular  bluff  to  scale  before 
the  guns  of  the  fort  could  be  reached. 

Seeing  it  was  impossible  to  take  the  fort  from 
these  natural  obstructions,  Colonel  Nelson  dis- 
patched an  aide  to  General  William  Dwight,  then 
in  command,  explaining  the  difficulty.  To  which 
the  General  sternly  replied,  "Tell  Colonel  Nelson 
I  shall  consider  that  he  has  accomplished  nothing 
unless  he  takes  those  guns."  So  they  were  again 
sent  into  the  jaws  of  death.     Six  times  did  these 


2y(y  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

colored  troops  charge  desperately  into  this  veri- 
table slaughter  pen,  before  the  inexorable  General 
saw  it  was  a  useless  waste  of  the  lives  of  his  brave 
men,  so  ordered  them  back. 

One  of  the  most  gallant  men  killed  that  day  was 
Captain  Andre  Cailloux  of  Company  E,  First 
Regiment  Native  Guards.  Though  phenomenally 
black,  he  was  a  gentleman  of  broad  culture,  com- 
manding presence,  considerable  wealth,  and  a 
born  leader  of  men.  While  urging  his  soldiers 
on,  first  in  English,  then  in  French,  his  left  arm 
was  mangled,  but  he  faltered  not.  Leading  his 
company  to  the  edge  of  that  fatal  bayou,  a  shell 
struck  him,  and  he  fell  dead  with  his  face  to  the 
enemy,  like  the  hero  that  he  was. 

When  the  first  regiment  was  ready  to  leave 
New  Orleans,  the  colonel,  who  for  some  cause  was 
not  going,  deliverd  its  colors  with  these  words: 
"Color  guard,  protect,  defend,  die  for,  but  do  not 
surrender  these  flags."  To  which  Anselmas  Plan- 
ciancois,  the  color  sergeant,  on  receiving  them 
nobly  replied,  "Colonel,  I  will  bring  back  these 
colors  in  honor,  or  report  to  God  the  reason  why." 
Poor  Anselmas  was  gallantly  bearing  his  colors  in 
front  of  the  regiment,  near  the  enemy's  works, 
when  a  shell  cut  away  part  of  the  beautiful  banner, 
together  with  part  of  the  sergeant's  head,  and  as  he 
embraced  it  in  death  it  became  baptized  in  his 
blood  and  brains.  Doubtless  he  reported  to  the 
Great  Commander-in-chief  of  us  all,  "the  reason 
why." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
by  a  sable  warrior,  to  a  friend  in  Chicago,  describ- 
ing the  deeds  of  heroism   performed   by   his   com- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  277 

pany,  in  the  tragedy  of    the  crater  at  Petersburg: 
"The    rebels    poured    a    deadly    fire    upon     us, 
wounding  Corporal    Maxwell  severely,   and  he  was 
compelled  to  let  the  colors  fall.     Corporal  Stevens 
then  seized  the    colors   and   bore   them  up  to  the 
top  of    the    works.      He    was    quickly  cut    down. 
Corporal  Bailey  seized  the  flag  and  was  killed  in- 
stantly.     Thomas     Barrett,     a     colored    private, 
seized  the  colors  and  bore  them  up  to  the    top  of 
the  fort   again.      He    quickly  fell  dead.      Captain 
Brockay  then  seized   the    flag   and    was    mortally 
wounded  and  obliged  to  let  the  colors    fall.      Col. 
John  A.  Bross  of  Chicago,  attired  in  his  full   uni- 
form, with  the   evident  intention    of   inspiring  his 
men,  then  seized    the    flag,  rushed    upon    the   top, 
of  the  fort,  planted  it  upon  the   parapet,  drew  his 
sword,     took'  his    hat     in    his    hand,    and    cried: 
*Rally,  my  brave  boys,  rally!'     The  boys  did  in- 
stantly rally  up    to    him;  but    he    quickly  fell    in 
death." 

We  will  not  harrow  the  feelings  of  the  reader 
by  portraying  all  the  details  of  the  heart-rending 
Fort  Pillow  massacre.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
garrison  included  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  men 
of  the  13th  Tennessee  Union  Cavalry, commanded 
by  Major  W.  F.  Bradford,  and  two  hundred  and 
sixty-two  colored  troops  of  the  6th  U.  S.  Heavy  Ar- 
tillery, making  five  hundred  and  fifty-seven  all  un- 
der the  command  of  Major  L.  F.  Booth, of  the  ar- 
tillery. On  April  twelfth,  1 864,  a  strong  rebel  force, 
•  under  the  command  of  Major-General  N.  B.  Forest 
and  General  Chalmers,  appeared  before  the  fort 
and  demanded  its  surrender,  which  being  refused, 
they  uttered  the    rebel   yell  of  "No  quarter!"  and 


278  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

charged  on  the  fort.  After  a  desperate  resistance 
in  which  Major  Booth,  the  commanding  officer, 
was  killed,  the  weak  garrison  overpowered  and 
the  fort  taken  by  assault;  then  began  an  indis- 
criminate massacre  of  men,  women  and  children, 
white  and  black,  which  has  no  equal  in  civilized 
warfare.  As  fast  as  the  Negroes  surrendered  they 
were  shot  down.  The  wounded  were  dragged 
into  houses,  and  after  the  doors  had  been  barri- 
caded the  torch  was  applied  and  the  houses  and 
contents  burned;  others  were  nailed  to  the  doors 
of  burning  houses,  while  a  number  were  burned 
alive.  At  least  three  fourths  of  the  entire  force 
were  annihilated,  most  of  them  after  the  fort  was 
taken.  But  never  was  a  braver  defense  made. 
What  Thermopylae  was  to  the  Greco-Persian  war; 
what  the  Alamo  was  to  the  Mexican  war,  that 
Fort  Pillow  was  to  the  Rebellion.  Right  nobly 
did  the  black  troops  avenge  this  massacre  of  their 
comrades,  on  many  hard-fought  battle  fields  after 
this,  when  the  cruel  rebel  yell  of  "No  quarter!" 
was  answered  by  their  battle  cry,  "Remember  Fort 
Pillow!" 

Volumes  would  be  required  to  chronicle  the 
daring  deeds  of  valor  and  patriotism  performed 
by  these  black  heroes  in  the  /oitr  hundred  and 
forty-nine  battles  in  which  they  participated.  We 
can  only  sketch  a  few  more  instances  of  their 
bravery.  At  Bermunda  Hundred,  they  captured 
seven  pieces  of  artillery  and  six  redoubts  with  their 
connecting  rifle  pits.  At  Ship  Island,  they  suc- 
cessfully repulsed  rebel  veterans  twice  their  num- 
ber. At  Millikin's  Bend,  the  rebels  came  on  like 
madmen,    shouting,    "No    quarter!"  only    to      be 


A  NEjy  CENTURY  279 

soundly  whipped  and  driven  back  by  the  Negro 
troops,  many  of  whom  were  raw  recruits  in  their 
first  action.  The  rebels  were  glad  to  get  for  them- 
selves what  they  denied  the  Negro. 

At  Fort  Powhatan,  the  ex-slaves  repulsed  the 
very  flower  of  Virginia  chivalry,  led  on  by  the 
valorous  Fitz  Hugh  Lee.  The  fight  lasted  five 
hours,  during  which  the  Virginia  masters  made 
three  desperate  charges,  only  to  be  mowed  down 
like  grass  by  the  enemy  from  behind  their  fortifi- 
cations. Chivalry  at  last  retired  disgusted,  his 
ranks  fearfully  depleted,  and  the  chattel  havmg 
gained  the  day. 

Fort  Harrison,  five  miles  from  Richmond,  was 
the  key  to  the  rebel  position  on  the  north  of  the 
James.  General  Butler  sent  his  Negro  troops 
under  the  invincible  Birney  to  take  this  fort  at 
point  of  bayonet.  The  Confederate  garrison  cried 
out  tauntingly,  "Come  on,  darkies,  we  want  your 
muskets."  The  darkies  did  come  on  in  the  face 
of  a  galHng  fire,  shouting,  "Remember  Fort  Pil- 
low!" The  cavaliers  did  not  get  the  guns,  but 
received  their  contents,  which  checked  the  flight 
of  many,  but  the  others  ran  for  four  miles,  and 
the  fort  was  taken  by  the  Negroes. 

Of  this  exploit  General  Butler  said  on  the  floor 
of  Congress:  "It  became  my  painful  duty,sir,  to 
follow  in  the  track  charging  column,  and  there, 
in  a  space  not  wider  than  the  clerk's  desk,  and 
three  hundred  yards  long,  lay  the  dead  bodies  of 
five  hundred  and  fifty-three  of  my  colored  com- 
rades, slain  in  the  defense  of  their  country,  who 
laid  down  their  lives  to  uphold  its  flag  and  its 
honor  as  a  willing  sacrifice;   and   as  I  rode   along 


28o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

among  them,  guiding  my  horse  this  way  and  that 
way,  lest  he  should  profane  with  his  hoofs  what 
seemed  to  me  the  sacred  dead,  and  as  I  looked  on 
their  bronzed  faces  upturned  in  the  shining  sun  as 
if  in  mute  appeal  against  the  wrongs  of  the  coun- 
try for  which  they  had  given  their  lives,  and  whose 
flag  had  only  been  to  them  a  flag  of  stripes  on 
which  no  star  of  glory  had  ever  shone  for  them  — 
feeling  I  had  wronged  them  in  the  past,  and  be- 
lieving what  was  the  future  of  my  country  to 
them — among  my  dead  comrades  there  I  swore  to 
myself  a  solemn  oath:  'May  my  right  hand  for- 
get its  cunning,  and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof 
of  my  mouth  if  I  ever  fail  to  defend  the  rights  of 
those  men  who  have  given  their  blood  for  me  and 
my  country  this  day,  and  for  their  race  forever;' 
and  God  helping  me,  I  will  keep  that  oath." 

A  Negro  soldier  having  been  clad  in  rags  all  his 
life,  the  very  Federal  garb  he  wore  tended  to  inspire 
him  with  self-respect  and  patriotism.  He  was  on 
picket  duty  in  a  Virginia  town,  when  a  Southern 
sympathizer  came  along  and  shoved  him  off  the 
sidewalk.  At  this  the  soldier  cried  out,"  White  man, 
halt,"  but  no  attention  was  paid  to  him.  Whereupon 
he  brought  his  musket  to  a  ready,  with  an  ominous 
click  of  the  trigger,  and  loudly  shouted:  "White 
man,  halt!"  Hearing  ^//^^/ in  his  tone,  the  man 
stopped,  and  turning  around  found  himself  looking 
down  a  gun  barrel.  His  next  order  was,  "White 
man,  come  here;"  this  was  obeyed,  when  the  sol- 
dier remarked,  "Dis  nigger  is  of  no  particular  ac- 
count, but  you  must  'spect  dis  uniform;  white 
man  go  on." 

They  fully  comprehended   the    issues,  as    when 


A  NEW  CENTURY  281 

a  former  slave,  standing  guard  and  seeing  his  late 
master  brought  in  as  a  prisoner,  thus  greeted  him: 
'^Ah,  master,  bottom  rail  on  the    top   this    time." 

There  were  178,975  colored  volunteers,  of 
whom  141,252  were  from  the  slave  states  and  37,- 
723  from  the  free  states.  Of  this  large  number 
36,847  were  killed,  wounded  or  missing.  As  we 
have  stated,  they  participated  in  449  battles,  and 
filled  with  distinction  almost  every  military  depart- 
ment of  the  Federal  army.  This  was  the  largest 
army  of  civilized  Negroes  of  any  war  in  the 
world's  history,  ancient  or  modern.  Christian  or 
pagan. 

Massachusetts  was  the  first  state  to  commission 
Negro  officers;  she  had  ten;  Kansas  three;  and 
the  two  regiments  of  Corps  d'  Afrique  from  New 
Orleans  had  black  officers. 

It  is  believed  there  were  at  least  seventy-five 
colored  men  who  bore  commissions  for  a  short 
time  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  There  were 
also  quite  a  number  of  colored  surgeons  and  chap- 
lains who  were  given  commissions. 

The  Negro  historian,  Williams,  in  his  "Honor 
Roll,"  gives  a  list  of  ten  colored  regiments  which 
were  commanded  by  General  Butler,  and  presented 
with  banners  inscribed  with  the  names  of  the  places 
where  they  won  their  laurels.  He  also  has  on 
his  "Roll  "  the  names  of  sixty-seven  heroes.  Of 
this  number  ten  were  publicly  commended  by  the 
General,  twenty-four  received  medals  for  gallantry, 
thirty  were  promoted  for  their  deeds  of  valor, 
while  three  others  were  doubly  honored  with 
medals  and  promotion. 

Secretary     of    War    Stanton  says    of     colored 


282  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

troops  at  Petersburg:  "The  hardest  fighting  was 
done  by  the  black  troops.  The  forts  they  stormed 
were  the  worst  of  all.  General  Smith  said  they 
cannot  be  excelled  as  soldiers." 

Adjutant-General  Lorenzo  Thomas  wrote  Sena- 
tor Henry  Wilson  concerning  Negro  troops,  "Ex- 
perience proves  that  they  manage  heavy  guns  very 
well.  Their  fighting  qualities  have  been  fully 
tested  a  number  of  times,  and  I  am  yet  to  hear  of 
the  first  case  where  they  did  not  fully  stand  up  to 
their  work.  At  Millikin's  Bend,  where  I  had  three 
incomplete  regiments,  one  without  arms  until  the 
day  previous  to  the  attack,  greatly  superior  num- 
bers of  the  rebels  charged  furiously  up  to  the  very 
breastworks.  The  Negroes  met  the  enemy  on  the 
ramparts,  where  both  sides  freely  used  the  bayonet, 
and  the  rebels  were  defeated  with  heavy  loss." 

General  Thomas  Morgan,  speaking  of  the  cour- 
age of  the  Negro  troops  in  the  battle  of  Nashville, 
said:  "Those  who  fell  nearest  the  enemy's  works 
were  colored."  Gen.  James  Blount  says  of  the 
First  Colored  Regiment  at  Henry  Springs,  Arkan- 
sas: "The  Negroes  were  too  much  for  the  enemy, 
and  let  me  here  say  that  I  never  saw  such  fighting 
as  was  done  by  that  Negro  regiment.  Too  much 
praise  cannot  be  awarded  them  for  their  gallantry. 
The  question  that  the  Negroes  will  fight  is  settled; 
besides, they  make  better  soldiers  in  every  respect 
than  any  troops  I  have  ever  had  under  my  com- 
mand." 

General  Butler,  in  an  address  to  the  army  of  the 
James  before  Richmond,  October,  1864,  made  the 
following  statement  concerning  the  campaign  just 
ended:     "In  the  charge  of  the  enemy's   works    by 


A  NEW  CENTURY  283 

the  colored  division  of  the  Eighteenth  Corps  at 
Spring  Hill  New  Market,  better  men  were  never 
better  led,  better  officers  never  led  better  men.  This 
war  is  ended  when  a  musket  is  in  the  hands  of 
every  able-bodied  Negro  who  wishes  to  use   one." 

Thus  it  is  not  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  colored 
troops  turned  the  tide  of  war  against  slavery  and 
the  Rebellion,  in  favor  of  freedom   and  the  Union. 

In  proportion  to  numbers,  they  were  equally 
gallant  and  useful  on  the  high  seas,  and  in  the 
navy.  During  the  month  of  June,  1861,  the 
schooner  "S.J.  Waring,"  bound  from  New  York  to 
South  America,  was  captured  by  the  privateer  "Jeff 
Davis."  A  prize  crew  consisting  of  a  captain,  mate 
and  four  seamen  were  put  on  board  and  the  vessel 
headed  for  Charleston.  Three  of  the  original 
crew  were  retained  on  board;  a  Yankee,  who  was 
put  iu  chains,  a  German  as  steersman  and  a  black 
man  named  Wm.  Tillman,  the  steward  and  cook 
of  the  schooner,  who  was  put  to  work  at  his  busi- 
ness, and  informed  that  he  now  belonged  to  the 
Confederacy  and  would  be  sold  on  arriving  at 
Charleston.  But  the  Negro  was  as  brave  as  a  lion, 
and  resolved  that  the  ship  should  never  reach 
Charleston.  With  him  to  resolve  was  to  act. 
After  putting  the  captain  out  of  the  way,  he  was 
master  of  the  cabin.  Ascending  the  deck,  he  made 
way  with  the  mate.  Seizing  the  mate's  revolver, 
he  drove  the  crew  below  deck,  and  proclaimed 
himself  master  of  the  ship.  He  then  ordered  the 
release  of  the  Yankee,  whom  he  armed,  and  put 
the  enemy  in  irons. 

With  the  stars  and  stripes  flying,  they  turned 
"The    Waring"    towards    New    York,      A    storm 


284  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

arose,  more  men  were  needed  to  work  the  ship. 
Tillman  ordered  the  rebels  to  be  released  and 
brought  on  deck.  They  were  put  to  work,  but  in- 
formed that  the  least  disobedience  meant  death. 
Five  days  after  this  "The  Waring"  arrived  in  the 
port  of  New  York  under  the  command  of  William 
Tillman,  the  Negro  patriot. 

The  New  York  "Tribune"  said  of  this  event:  — 
"To  this  colored  man  was  the  nation  indebted  for 
the  first  vindication  of  its  honor  on  the  sea." 

The  Federal  government  awarded  Tillman  six 
thousand  dollars  prize  money  for  the  capture  of 
the  brig. 

On  the  morning  of  May  13,  1862,  the  rebel 
gunboat  "Planter"  was  captured  by  her  colored 
crew,  while  lying  in  the  port  of  Charleston,  and 
delivered  to  the  Federal  squadron  then  blockad- 
ing that  port.  Following  is  the  dispatch  from 
Commodore  Dupont  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  an- 
nouncing the  fact: 

"U.    S.    Steamship,   Augusta,    off  Charleston, 
May  13,   1862. 

"Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the 
rebel  armed  gunboat  'Planter'  was  brought  out  to 
us  this  morning  from  Charleston  by  eight  'contra- 
bands,'  and  delivered  up  to  the  squadron.  Five 
colored  women  and  three  children  are  also  on 
board.  She  was  the  armed  dispatch  and  transpor- 
tation steamer  attached  to  the  engineer  depart- 
ment at  Charleston,  under  General  Ripley.  At 
four  in  the  morning,  in  the  absence  of  the  captain, 
who  was  on  shore,  she  left  her  wharf  close  to  the 
government    office     and    headquarters,    with    the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  285 

Palmetto  and  Confederate  flags  flying,  and  passed 
the  successive  forts,  saluting  as  usual,  by  blowing 
the  steam  whistle.  After  getting  beyond  the  range 
of  the  last  gun,  they  hauled  down  the  rebel  flags 
and  hoisted  a  white  one.  *The  Onward,'  the 
inside  ship  of  the  blockading  squadron,  was  about 
to  fire,  when  her  commander  discovered  the  white 
flag.  The  armament  of  the  steamer  is  a  thirty- 
two  pounder  on  a  pivot,  and  a  fine  twenty-four 
pound  howitzer.  She  has,  besides,  on  her  deck, 
four  other  guns,  one  a  seven  inch  rifle,  which 
were  to  be  taken  on  the  following  morning  to  a 
new  fort.  One  of  the  four  guns  belonged  to  Fort 
Sumter  and  had  been  struck  in  the  rebel  attack 
on  the  muzzle. 

"Robert  Small, the  intelligent  slave,  and  pilot  of 
the  boat,  who  performed  this  bold  feat  so  skill- 
fully, is  a  superior  man  to  any  who  have  come 
into  our  lines,  intelligent  as  many  of  them  have 
been.  His  information  has  been  interesting,  and 
portions  of  it  of  the  utmost  importance.  The 
steamer  is  quite  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the 
squadron,  by  her  good  machinery  and  light  draught. 
The  bringing  out  of  this  steamer  would  have  done 
credit  to  any  one.  If  in  view  of  the  Government, 
the  vessel  will  be  considered  a  prize,  1  respectfully 
submit  to  the  Department  the  claims  of  the  man 
Small,  and  his  associates. 

"Very  Respectfully,  S.  F.  Dupont,  Flag  Officer 
Commanding." 

It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  state  that  the 
"Planter"  was  received  as  a  prize  and  Robert 
Small    appointed    captain.*^     In    this    position    he 


286  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

showed  great  courage  and  ability.  The  "Planter" 
was  ordered  to  Charleston  just  after  that  city  was 
taken  and  there  Captain  Small  received  a  perfect 
ovation. 

We  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  verdict  of  his- 
tory, nor  to  the  glamour  of  romance  that  sur- 
rounds many  of  our  colored  brethren,  and  are 
compelled  to  admit  that  whether  on  land  or  sea, 
'n  army  or  navy,  there  is  but  one  verdict,  "7  he 
Colored  Troops  Fought  Nobly  " 


HON.  R.  L.  SMITH, 

Member  of  Texas  Legislature  and  Founder  of  the  Farmer's 

Improvement  Society,  an  organization  doing  great 

good  among  the  farmers  of  Texas. 


287 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EXODUS,    AND    SETTLEMENT    IN    THE    NORTH 
.  AND  WEST. 

The  great  hegira  of  the  blacks  from  the  South, 
or  "the  Negro  Exodus,"  as  it  was  called,  began 
about  February  ist,  1879.  The  Negroes  had  all 
heard  of  Kansas,  made  memorable  by  the  strug- 
gles, on  their  behalf,  of  Jim  Lane  and  John  Brown, 
and  naturally  when  they  decided  to  leave  the 
South  they  turned  their  eyes  toward  that  "Pronx- 
ised  Land." 

But  what  caused  them  to  leave  the  South  in 
such  large  numbers .''  There  were  two  answers  to 
this  question,  but  both  of  them  could  not  be  true. 
Said  a  Southern  Democrat  to  a  correspondent  of 
the  "Atlantic  Monthly"  of  that  period:  "1  tell  you, 
it's  all  owing  to  the  radical  politicians  at  the 
North;  they've  had  their  emissaries  down  here, and 
deluded  the  niggers  into  a  very  fever  of  emigration 
with  the  purpose  of  reducing  our  basis  of  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  and  increasing  that  of  the 
Northern  states." 

It  has  been  shown  repeatedly  that  nothing  could 
have  been  more  foreign  to  the  truth  than  the  state- 

288 


A  NEW  CENTURY  289 

ment  just  uttered;  the  movement  had  no  political 
significance  except  in  the  fact  that  the  Negro 
was  denied  a  free  ballot  and  fair  count  in  the 
South,  and  sought  a  country  where  he  could  have 
both,  with  "none  to  molest  or  make    him  afraid." 

Not  one  of  the  states  in  which  they  settled, 
through  the  officials,  invited  them;  but  to  their 
credit  be  it  said,  they  received  them  kindly  when 
they  arrived.  This  was  especially  true  of  the 
Prohibition  Governor  of  Kansas,  John  P.  St.  John. 

Not  one  dollar  of  public  funds  soever,  national, 
state  or  municipal,  was  used  in  buying  land  or 
furnishing  supplies  for  these  poverty-stricken  black 
imigrants,  and  the  only  known  contribution  from 
any  man  engaged  in  politics,  was  one  hundred  dol- 
lars from  Vice-President  Wheeler.  Congress 
could,  without  the  slightest  qualms  of  conscience, 
vote  away  millions  of  acres  of  the  richest  lands  to 
railroad  monopolies.  The  government  could  ap- 
propriate millions  of  acres  of  land  and  millions  of 
dollars  in  money  to  support  the  wild  Indians, 
many  of  them  drinking,  gambling,  and  living  a 
life  of  idleness,  vagrancy,  and  crime.  It  could 
wring  from  the  people  millions  for  the  benefit  of 
railroad  magnates,  factory  kings,  the  coffee  and 
the  sugar  trust,  when  every  pound  of  Southern 
sugar  was  made  by  the  brawn  and  sweat  of  the 
poor  negro,  but  it  could  not  give  one  dollar  for 
the  benefit  of  the  colored  man,  who  had  spent 
two  and  one-half  centuries  in  unpaid  toil  to  en- 
rich the  South,  from  which  he  is  now  forced  to  flee 
empty-handed  and  almost  naked.  Verily  consis- 
tency is  a  jewel. 

All  the  action  taken  by  Congress   was  the  adop- 


290  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

tion  of  a  resolution  offered  by  U.  S.  Senator  D. 
W.  Voorhees  of  Indiana,  providing  for  an  investi- 
gation of  the  causes  of  the  migration  of  the  colored 
people  from  the  Southern  to  the  Northern  states. 
Thus,  with  its  usual  recklessness,  congress  appro- 
priated thousands  of  dollars  to  find  out  what  was 
already  known  to  every  intelligent  person,  and  al- 
most every  schoolboy  in  the  country,  that  the 
Negroes  were  leaving  the  South  because  of  syste- 
matic robbery,  and  political  cruelties.  Thousands 
of  dollars  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  poor  Ne- 
groes' distress,  but  not  one  cent  to  relieve  it. 

An  intelligent  Negro  told  the  same  correspondent 
for  the  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  who  interviewed  the 
Bourbon  democrat:  "We've  been  working  hard  for 
fourteen  long,  dreary  years,  and  we  ain't  any  bet- 
ter off  than  when  we  commenced."  The  same 
statement  was  substantially  made  by  many  of 
the  dusky  emigrants.  "Now,  Uncle  Joe,  what  did 
you  come  for?"  "Oh  law!  Missus,  I  f oilers  my 
two  boys  an'  the  ole  woman,  an'  then  'pears  like 
I  wants  a  taste  of  votin'  afore  I  dies,  an'  de  ole 
man  doan'  want  no  swamps  to  wade  in  afore  he 
votes,  kase  he  must  be  Republican,  ye  see." 

"Well,  old  Aunty,  tell  us  what  you  think  of  leav- 
ing your  old  home."  "I  doan'  have  no  home  nohow, 
if  they  shoots  my  ole  man  an'  the  boys  an'  give 
me  no  money  for  de  washin'." 

A  sprightly  woman  of  twenty-five  frankly  stated: 

"I  hadn't  much  real  trouble  yet,  like  some  of 
my  neighbors,  who  lost  everything.  We  had  a  lot 
an'  a  little  house,  an'  some  stock  on  the  place. 
We  sold  all  out  kase  we  didn't  dare  stay  when 
votin'    time    came   again.     Some    neighbors  bet- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  291 

ter  off  than  we,  had  been  all  broken  up  by  a 
pack  of  *night-riders' — all  in  white,  who  scared 
everybody  to  death,  run  the  men  to  the  swamps 
before  elections,  run  the  stock  off,  an'  set  fire  to 
their  places.  A  poor  woman  might  as  well  be  killed 
and  done  with  it."  Though  not  voters,  and  con- 
sequently free  from  personal  assaults,  the  women 
suffered  as  much  from  the  general  terrorism  that 
prevailed  in  certain  districts,  especially  in  Missis- 
sippi and  Louisiana,  as  the  men.  "We  might  as 
well  starve  or  freeze  to  death  in  Kansas,"  they  say, 
"as  to  be  shot-gunned  here." 

There  is  certainly  just  cause  for  complaint  of 
systematic  extortion  and  robbery,  through  the  in- 
iquitous "Plantation  Credit  System."  The  Negroes' 
necessities  have  developed  at  the  cross-roads  or 
steam-boat  landings  an  offensive  class  called  mer- 
chants by  courtesy,  who  are  frequently  Jews  and 
live  by  extortion.  In  any  Northern  or  Western 
community  they  would  be  called  sharks,  harpies, 
or  vampires,  and  would  not  be  tolerated  more 
than  one  season.  But  many  stores  claiming  to 
do  a  legitimate  credit  business,  are  owned  in  whole 
or  in  part  by  the  planters,  and  were  almost  as 
exorbitant.  Every  store-keeper  has  a  cash  and 
credit  price,  and  the  latter  was  usually  double 
the  former. 

Besides,  it  is  claimed  on  good  authority,  that 
in  Mississippi  five  years  prior  to  the  Exodus,  not 
one  white  man  was  convicted  and  punished  for  an 
offense  against  a  colored  man,  or  made  to  pay  a 
debt  due  a  colored  man;  while  in  Texas,  Ala- 
bama and  Georgia,  laws  were  passed  under  which 
freedmen    were  arrested  for  debts,  and  their  labor, 


292  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

(which  is  virtually  themselves)  sold  at  auction. 
The  usual  bid  was  twenty-five  cents  per  day,  with 
rainy  days  and  Sundays  deducted  and  board  ex- 
acted for  them.  The  following  items  were 
taken  from  a  planter's  contract, and  store-keeper's 
receipted  bill, brought  with  them  to  Kansas:  "Rent 
of  land  for  one  season,  five  and  ten  dollars  per 
acre"  (more  than  its  assessed  valuation,  and  more 
than  it  would  bring  at  public  sale).  "Hire  of  mule 
to  cultivate  crops,  thirty  dollars"  (the  mule  was 
sold  at  the  end  of  the  season  for  twenty-five  dol- 
lars). "Mess  pork  thirty-five  dollars  per  barrel. 
Corn-meal,  nine  dollars  per  barrel.  Bacon  sides 
and  shoulders,  twenty  cents  per  pound.  Common 
brown  sugar,  twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  pound. 
Rice,  twelve  and  one-half  cents  per  pound.  Mo- 
lasses, common  black  strap, one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  per  gallon.  Tobacco  (ordinary  "dogleg"), 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  pound.  Cotton  drill- 
ing, forty  cents  per  yard.  Domestic  prints,  fif- 
teen and  sixteen  cents  per  yard." 

By  a  strange  coincidence,  the  man  who  sold  these 
particular  goods  was  one  of  a  delegation  of  planters 
who  came  from  the  South  to  Kansas  to  persuade 
some  of  the  best  of  the  Negroes  to  return.  When 
confronted  with  this  bill,  he  acknowledged  that  it 
was  genuine,  and  in  his  own  hand-writing.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  state  that  he  got  no  Negroes  to  re- 
turn with  him. 

The  poor  unsuspecting  Negro,  unable  to  read 
or  calculate,  and  paying  such  prices  as  we  have 
quoted,  generally  found  himself  from  twenty-five 
to  two  hundred  dollars  in  debt  at  the  end  of  each 
year.     This,  of  course,  necessitated    another    en- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  293 

gagement  for  the  next  year,  in  order  to  pay  that 
debt,  then  another  engagement,  until  the  poor 
Negro  was  a  veritable  slave,  for  it  was  impossible 
to  get  out  of  debt.  But  political  persecution  was 
as  patent  a  factor  in  causing  the  Exodus,  as  sys- 
tematic robbery. 

When  a  prominent  pastor  of  St.  Louis  said  a 
few  years  ago  at  a  National  Baptist  Anniversary: 
"In  the  South  the  whites  are  going  to  rule,  by 
fair  means  if  they  can,  but  they  are  going  to  rule," 
he  expressed  the  sentiment  of  the  Solid  South, 
and  they  were  absolutely  unscrupulous  in  their 
methods,  especially  after  they  became  thoroughly 
exasperated  with  the  carpet-baggers,  and  Negro 
rule  in  the  South,  during  the  period  of  reconstruc- 
tion. 

Many  of  the  Negroes  were  terrorized  by  "night- 
riders,"  "Kuklux,"  or  "bull-dozers,"  as  they  were 
variously  called,  and  driven  to  the  swamps  just 
before  elections.  Numbers  were  murdered  out- 
right, as  the  following  letter  from  General.  P.  H. 
Sheridan,  written  from  New  Orleans,  January 
loth,  1875,  shows: 

"Since  the  year  1866,  nearly  thirty-five  hundred 
persons,  a  great  majority  of  which  were  colored 
men,  have  been  killed  and  wounded  in  this  state. 
In  1868  the  official  record  shows  that  eighteen 
hundred  and  eighty-four  were  killed  and  wounded. 
From  1868  to  the  present  time  no  official  investi- 
gation had  been  made  and  the  civic  authorities,  in 
all  but  a  few  cases,  have  been  unable  to  arrest, 
convict  or  punish  the  perpetrators;  consequently 
there  are  no  correct  records  to  be  consulted  for 
information.      There  is  ample  evidence,  however, 


294  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

to  show  that  more  than  twelve  hundred  persons 
have  been  killed  and  wounded  during  this  time, 
on  account  of  their  political  sentiments.  Fright- 
ful massacres  have  occurred  in  the  parishes  of  Bas- 
sier,  Caddo,  Catahoula,  Saint  Bernard,  Grant,  and 
Orleans.  .  .  .  Human  life  in  this  state  is 
held  so  cheaply  that  when  men  are  killed  on  ac- 
count of  political  opinions  the  murderers  are 
regarded  rather  as  heroes  than  as  criminals  in  the 
localities  where  they  reside." 

In  the  year  1867-8,  a  reign  of  terror  prevailed 
in  Louisiana.  A  massacre  of  Negroes  began  in  St. 
Landry  parish  Sept.  28,  1868,  lasting  from  three 
to  six  days,  and  resulting  in  the  killing  of  from 
three  to  four  hundred  men.  "Thirteen  captives 
were  taken  from  the  jail  and  shot,  and  a  pile  of 
twenty-five  dead  bodies  were  found  burned  in  the 
woods."  As  a  result  of  this  campaign,  not  one 
Republican  vote  was  cast  in  the  election  which 
followed  a  few  days  later,  though  prior  to  this 
they  had  a  registered  majority  of  one  thousand 
and  seventy-one. 

A  similar  massacre  occurred  between  the  20th 
and  30th  of  Sep. ,  1867,  lasting  three  or  four  days. 
In  this  there  were  two  hundred  Negroes  killed. 
There  were  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  Republican  votes  in  the  parish  by  official 
registry,  but  at  the  ensuing  election  only  one 
Republican  vote  was  cast. 

About  forty  Negroes  were  killed  in  Caddo  parish 
during  the  month  of  October,  1868.  The  result 
of  this  massacre  was,  that  General  Grant  only 
received  one  vote  out  of  a  Republican  registered 
vote  of  2,894. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  295 

It  is  shown  from  official  sources  that  over  one 
thousand  Negroes  were  whipped,  maimed,  or  mur- 
dered for  political  reasons  in  the  months  of  Sept,, 
Oct.,  and  Nov.,  1867,  with  the  result  that  out  of 
47,923  registered  Republican  votes, only  5, 360  were 
cast  for  General  Grant.  The  same  policy  was 
pursued  in  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1876  and 
with  a  like  result. 

When  it  became  as  much  as  a  poor  Negro's  life 
was  worth  to  persist  in  voting  the  Republican 
ticket,  he  did  what  might  have  been  expected  un- 
der the  circumstances,  stopped  voting.  Now, 
among  business  men  of  our  Northern  cities  voting 
is  considered  a  disagreeable  duty,  because  it  takes 
them  away  from  the  pursuit  of  wealth  for  a  few 
hours.  It  never  seems  to  occur  to  them  that  it  would 
be  money  in  their  pockets,  to  attend  the  nominating 
conventions  and  ward  meetings,  to  nominate  and 
elect  men  who  would  be  a  help  and  honor  to  their 
country.  The  result  is,  the  saloon  keepers,  gam- 
blers, and  hoodlums  run  the  politics  of  our  North- 
ern cities.  But  the  Negro  of  the  South  (especially 
Louisiana  and  Mississippi)  regarded  the  ballot  as 
forbidden  fruit,  and  desired  it  with  as  much  eager- 
ness "as  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brooks." 

Governor  St.  John  had  in  his  office  over  three 
thousand  letters  on  file,  from  the  Negroes  of  the 
South,  and  the  burden  of  their  inquiry  was:  "Can 
we  be  free,  can  we  have  work,  and  can  we  have  our 
political  rights.?"  Surely  they  made  a  very  modest 
request. 

There  were  two  charitable  organizations  de- 
signed to  aid  these  colored  emigrants  until  they 
could   obtain    homes    or    employment.     The  first 


296  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

was  organized  at  St.  Louis  in  1878.  This  was 
known  as  "The  Refugee  Relief  Board."  Its  Presi- 
dent was  the  famous  colored  minister  and  friend 
of  his  race,  Rev.  Moses  Dickson,  the  founder  of 
the  International  Order  of  "Twelve  Knights  and 
Daughters  of    Tabor." 

The  Exodus  proper  had  not  commenced  or  was 
just  in  its  infancy,  but  this  sagacious  colored  leader 
seemed  to  expect  his  people  en  route  for  the  mighty 
West,  so  made  ready  to  receive  them  at  St.  Louis, 
and  help  them  on  to  their  destination.  This  so- 
ciety received  and  cared  for  about  sixteen  thousand 
men,  women  and  children,  fleeing  from  Southern 
oppression.  It  was  the  medium  for  collecting  and 
distributing  to  those  needy  ones  thousands  of 
dollars  in  money;  also  hundreds  of  boxes  contain- 
ing clothing  and  provisions. 

The  other  society  was  organized  in  May,  1879, 
as,  "The  Kansas  Freedmen's  Relief  Association,'"' 
with  headquarters  atTopeka.  This  was  composed 
of  the  state  officers,  with  a  few  other  leading  citi- 
zens, and  was  designed  to  provide  for  the  destitute 
emigrants  who  had  come  among  them,  rather  than 
to  encourage  others  in  coming. 

Mrs.  Comstock,  a  kind,  motherly  old  Quaker 
lady,  came  forward  and  offered  her  services  free  of 
charge.  She  was  then  in  her  sixty-fourth  year, 
having  spent  twenty-five  years  of  her  life  in  reliev- 
ing suffering  humanity. 

John  M.  Brown  was  appointed  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  Freedmen's  Relief  Association;  he 
proved  to  be  the  right  man  for  the  place,  and  as 
great  abenefactorto  thenegroas"01d  John  Brown." 
Wnen  the  facts  of  their    destitution  were  known, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  297 

together  with  its  true  cause,  the  hearts  of  a  great 
people  were  touched.  Money,  food  and  clothing 
poured  into  the  Association,  and  during  the  year 
about  forty  thousand  dollars  in  money  and  five 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  clothing  and  bedding 
were  distributed. 

Mrs.  Comstcok  was  well  known,  even  in  England, 
for  her  noble  deeds  of  philanthropy;  her  friends 
there  sent  her  eight  thousand  dollars  in  money,  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds  of  goods.  One  third  of  the 
remainder  was  furnished  by  the  society  of  Friends, 
and  the  Christian  women  of  America  contributed 
a  large  amount  in  small  sums,  through  their  mite 
societies  and  sewing-circles.  Ohio  led  the  states  in 
the  amount  of  their  contribution;  followed  by  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  Michigan, Illi- 
nois and  Iowa  in  the  order  named;  but  nearly  every 
state  sent  something.  The  largest  individual  gift 
was  one  thousand  dollars  from  John  Hall,  a  Quaker 
of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania. 

During  their  first  year  the  freedmen  got  pos- 
session of  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  culti- 
vated three  thousand  of  it.  They  also  accumulated 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  built  three  hundred 
cabins  and  dug-outs.  But  this  was  not  accom- 
plished without  prodigious  labor,  and  overcoming 
difficulties  apparently  insuperable. 

Henry  Carter,  a  refugee,  who  in  1879  had  come 
to  Kansas  from  Tennessee,  started  on  foot  from 
Topeka  to  Dunlap,  a  distance  of  sixty-five  miles. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  wife,  who  carried  their 
bed-clothes,  while  he  carried  his  tools.  By  1880 
he  had  forty  acres  of  land  cleared,  and  had  made 
the  first    payment.      He    had    built  a  good   stone 


298  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

cottage,  sixteen  by  ten  feet,  owned  a  good  horse, 
two  cows,  etc.,  having  earned  his  money  by  daily 
labor  on  sheep  ranches  and  elsewhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. In  one  instance  a  black  man  in  Graham 
County  "broke"  five  acres  of  raw  prairie  with  a 
common  spade. 

According  to  the  report  of  John  M.  Brown, 
Superintendent  of  the  Relief  Association,  about 
sixty  thousand  refugees  had  come  to  the  state  of 
Kansas  to  live,  up  to  February  of  1880.  Nearly 
forty  thousand  of  them  were  in  a  destitute  condi- 
tion when  they  arrived,  and  had  been  helped  by 
the  Association.  They  had  received  sixty-eight 
thousand  dollars,  which  had  been  used  to  the  best 
advantage  possible  under  all  circumstances.  Of 
the  number  reported,  five  thousand  had  gone  to 
other  states,  thirty  thousand  had  settled  in  the 
country  on  their  own  or  rented  lands,  or  hired  out 
to  the  farmers,  leaving  about  twenty-five  thousand 
in  or  around  the  different  towns  or  cities  of  Kan- 
sas. 

Referring  to  the  fact  that  the  refugees  managed, 
by  the  help  of  this  Association,  to  get  through  the 
winter  in  tolerable  comfort,  a  correspondent  for 
Scribner's  Monthly  of  that  period  remarks:  "For- 
tunately, they  long  ago  learned  to  be  content  with 
a  very  meager  diet,  and  seem  able  to  make  a  feast 
on  what  would  haunt  white  persons  with  visions  of 
starvation.  'Gimme  a  sack  o'  meal  an'  a  side  o* 
meat,'  said  one  of  them,  *an'  my  folks  kin  git  along 
han'som',  and  many  of  them  did  get  along  through- 
out the  winter  with  little  more  than  corn-bread  and 
bacon — and  there  were  chickens  roosting  in  the 
neighborhood   too.     All    things   considered,  they 


A  NEW  CENTURY  299 

have  given  convincing  evidence  of  their  disposition 
to  work,  and  to  be  honest,  and  sober,  and  frugal.  .  . 
Such  as  got  work  at  any  price,  did  not  ask  assist- 
ance; those  who  were  compelled  to  apply  for  aid 
did  it  slowly,  as  a  rule,  and  rarely  came  a  second 
time.  Not  a  single  colored  tramp  was  in  Kansas 
all  winter;  and  only  one  colored  person  was  con- 
victed of  any  crime." 

Stearns  has  beautifully  said,  "God  tempers  the 
wind  to  the  shorn  lamb."  This  certainly  was  true 
in  the  case  of  these  poor,  half-clad  colored  refu- 
gees from  man's  oppressions,  who  blindly  yet 
beautifully  trusted  "de  good  Lord,"  with  a  faith 
that  was  seldom  equaled,  for  the  first  winter  of 
their  stay  in  Kansas  was  the  mildest  in  the  history 
of  that  state.  As  one  of  their  preachers  expressed 
it,  "God  seed  dat  de  darkies  had  thin  clo's,  an' 
he  done  kep'de  cole  off." 

The  state  officers  in  time  withdrew  from  the 
Relief  Association,  and  left  its  work  in  the  hands 
of  representatives  of  the  different  denominations, 
with  immediate  executive  control  vested  in  the 
Society  of  Friends.  The  Negro  found,  as  in  the 
anti-slavery  struggle,  that  a  Friend  in  need  was  a 
Friend  indeed.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given 
to  this  band  of  philanthropists,  whose  hearts  were 
ever  touched  by  the  cry  of  distress.  But  the  effort 
of  the  Friends  was  promptly  and  ably  seconded  by 
the  other  denominations,  and  right  nobly  was  the 
arduous  task  performed. 

The  Southern  people  were  greatly  agitated  over 
this  wholesale  emigration  of  their  laboring  class. 
For  in  their  moments  of  calm  reflection  they 
knew  full  well  that  three  things  were  indispensable 


300  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

to  the  South,  the  Negro,  the  mule,  and  cotton; 
and  as  their  white  men  would  not  work,  the  Negro 
and  mule  were  necessary  adjuncts  to  a  cotton  crop. 
The  exodus  wrung  from  a  number  of  independent 
Southern  Journals  a  confession  of  the  fiendish 
practice  of  bulldozing  and  kukluxing,  by  their  de- 
mands that  such  practice  should  be  abandoned  be- 
fore it  drove  all  the  better  class  of  Negroes  from  the 
South.  In  short,  the  Southern  leaders  began  to 
realize  that  they  must  treat  the  Negro  justly,  and 
give  him  his  political  rights,  or  lose  his  labor;  and 
the  only  way  to  stop  the  exodus  was  fair  treatment 
to  those  who  remained  The  subject  was  also  dis- 
cussed from  the  pulpit  and  rostrum  of  the  South. 

C.  K  Marshall,  D.D.,of  Vicksburg,  Mississippi, 
in  an  address  on  the  exodus  delivered  January  21, 
1880,  seems  to  favor  the  idea,  but  urges  the  Ne- 
groes to  go  to  Africa,  "the  land  of  their  fathers," 
instead  of  remaining  in  this  country.  If  the  gentle- 
man had  noticed  the  large  number  of  mulattoes  all 
over  the  South,  and  especially  in  Vicksburg,  he 
would  have  decided  with  us,  that  the  negro  was 
already  in  the  land  of  his  fathers. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  this  Southern 
white  man  is  blinded  by  prejudice,  and  cannot  do 
the  Negro  justice.  Hear  him:  "Trades  they  cannot 
learn.  Ask  the  'Trades  Unions'  of  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  or  Baltimore  how  many  Ne- 
groes belong  to  them.?  And  the  answer  would  be, 
nearly  none, practically  none."  But  he  does  not  tell 
us  why  the  Negro  does  not  learn  trades — Simply 
because  he  is  debarred  from  them,  on  account  of 
his  black  skin  and  because  of  his  "previous  con- 
dition   of   servitude."     But  if  the  Negroes   of  the 


A  NEW  CENTURY  301 

South  do  not  learn  trades  (because  they  are  not 
permitted),  no  more,  as  a  rule,  do  the  Southern 
white  men,  with  nothing  on  earth  to  prevent  them 
but  their  own  indolence  and  foolish  pride,  a  legacy 
of  their  "peculiar  institution."  Our  best  mechanics 
are  still  the  Yankee  and  the  foreigner. 

Nevertheless  the  good  Doctor  continues,  un- 
mindful of  the  fact  that  his  whole  argument  is  a 
straddle,  and  series  of  contradictions.  The  paren- 
theses, of  course,  are  ours: "  Briefly  view  the  situation 
from  what  point  of  the  political,  social,  and  indus- 
trial compass  you  may,  the  Negro  must  forever  re- 
main a  dwarf  on  American  soil."  Near  the  close 
of  his  address  he  says,  "They  will  return  (to  Africa) 
with  stalwart  physical,  manly  vigor,"  (  he  has  just 
said  'he  must  forever  remain  a  dwarf)  womanly 
culture,  refinement,  and  piety.  They  will  carry  a 
higher  type  of  intelligence,  and  a  wider  range  of 
powers  than  was  dreamed  of  by  their  most  enlight- 
ened ancestral  seers;  a  knowledge  of  science,  agri- 
culture, mechanism,  law,  medicine,  and  divinity." 
(How  can  they  learn  all  this  except  among  other 
people?)  "They  will  go  back  with  the  Bible,  the 
hymn-book,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  one  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  adorable  Savior.  They 
will  build  the  school-house,  the  college,  the  uni- 
versity," (if  in  Africa,  why  not  here.?)  "they  will 
issue  periodicals  from  their  own  presses,  cloth  from 
their  own  looms,  shoes  from  their  own  shops,  coin 
from  their  own  mints,  cargoes  of  merchandise  from 
their  own  wharves,  justice  from  their  own  courts, 
and  laws  from  their  own  congress."  If  the  Negro 
must  "forever  remain  a  dwarf,"  and  "trades  they 
cannot  learn,  "as  Mr.  Marshall  has  informed  us,  how 


302  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

can  the  colored  man  accomplish  all  these  mighty 
deeds  he  predicts,  in  Africa?  And  if  he  can  do 
all  this  in  Africa,  and  we  do  not  question  it,  why 
can  he  not  do  it,  and  more,  in  happy,  free  Amer- 
ica, 'the  land  of  his  fathers?'  We  believe  he  can 
and  will.  The  Neg^ro  certainly  has  greater  facul- 
ties for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  picking  up  trades, 
in  spile  of  the  Trades  Union,  in  this  great  free 
country,  than  he  could  hope  to  enjoy  among  the 
uncivilized  Negroes  of  the  Guinea  Coast. 

Here  is  the  black  man's  home  and  here  he  will 
remain.  He  is  over  nine  millions  strong,  and  a 
peace-loving,  native-born  American  citizen.  And 
if  the  Trades  Union  continue  to  debar  him,  he  will 
simply  have  a  Trades  Union  of  his  own,  where  the 
young  colored  men  can  learn  trades. 

The  worthy  Doctor's  statements  are  not  only 
contradictory,  but  he  is  plainly  trying  to  resurrect 
that  old  dead  and  buried  African  Colonization  So- 
ciety, which  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison  rendered  an 
object  of  ridicule,  by  showing  that  in  the  zenith 
of  its  glory,  a  great  many  more  slaves  were  brought 
from  Africa  each  year  than  the  Society  had  ever 
sent  there  during  all  the  years  of  its  existence. 

Contrast,  if  you  please,  this  strange  address, 
which  was  clearly  made  for  buncombe,  with  the 
following  manly  and  eloquent  review  of  the  ex- 
odus by  a  colored  statesman  and  orator,  Hon 
John  M.  Langston,  ex-minister  to  Hayti.  This 
address  was  delivered  by  invitation,  before  the 
Emigrant  Aid  Society,  at  Lincoln  Hill,  Washington, 
D.   C,    October  7,  1879. 

"Herodotus  tells  of  a  Scythian  general  who,  re- 
turning   with    his    army  after    a  protracted  expe- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  303 

ditioii,  found  their  slaves  had  taken  possession  of 
their  households,  their  wives  and  the  management 
of  public  affairs.  He  counseled  his  comrades  to 
throw  away  their  weapons,  their  arrows  and  their 
darts,  andmeet  their  opponents  without  any  means 
of  defense  save  the  whip  which  they  used  upon 
their  horses  Said  he:  'Whilst  they  see  us  with 
arms,  they  think  themselves  our  equals  in  birth 
and  importance,  but  as  soon  as  they  shall  see  us 
with  whips  in  our  hands,  they  will  be  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  their  servile  condition  and  resist 
no  longer.'  The  plan  was  adopted  and  proved  a 
success.  This  illustrates  the  feeling  generally 
entertained  between  the  old  master  and  his  former 
slaves. 

"How  shall  the  American  ex-slave,  who  has  served 
for  two  hundred  and  forty-five  years  in  slavery, 
be  released  from  the  control  of  a  class  heretofore 
his  masters.?  The  history  of  the  world  offers  but 
one  solution  to  this  question,  and  that  solution  is 
found  in  his  exodus.  Let  him  go  forth,  where 
sympathy  and  the  recognition  of  liberty  and  usual 
rights  are  accorded  him ;  where  labor  is  to  be  per- 
formed; where  struggle  is  to  be  made,  where  the 
stern  realities  of  life  are  to  be  met;  there  let  him 
demonstrate  his  courage,  his  self-reliance,  his 
manly  independence.  Under  such  new  conditions, 
his  capacities,  his  power,  and  his  efforts  will  win 
the  crown  which  befits  the  brow  of  noble  man- 
hood. .  .  The  South  has  not  changed  a  great 
deal  for  the  better.  Nor  has  the  feeling  of  the 
non-slave-holding  class  of  the  South  undergone 
any  material  change  with  respect  to  the  freedmen. 
Indeed,  it  seems  to  be  true  that  this  class   hates 


304  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

the  colored  man  more  now  than  when  he  was  a 
slave,  and  stands  ready  at  the  command  of  the 
aristocratic  class  to  do  its  bidding  even  to  the 
shedding  of  his  blood.  As  showing  that  this  con- 
dition of  affairs  is  true,  and  that  little  advance- 
ment has  been  made,  one  has  only  to  pronounce 
in  your  hearing  certain  terrible  words  coined  in 
connection  with  the  barbarous,  cruel  treatment  that 
has  been  meted  out  to  the  emancipated  class  of 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  other  states  formerly 
slave-holding.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  frightful 
words  'Kuklux,'  ^Bulldozers,'  and  the  terrible  ex- 
pressions, *the  shot-gun  or  Mississippi  policy?' 
The  meaning  is  clear.  It  is  that  neither  the  old 
slave-holding  spirit,  or  the  old  slave-holding  purpose 
or  control  is  dead  in  the  South;  that  plantocracy, 
with  its  fearful  power  and  influence,  has  not  passed 
away;  that  the  colored  American  under  it,  is  in  a 
condition  of  practical  enslavement,  trodden  down 
and  outraged  by  those  who  exercise  control  over 
him.  Such  things  will  continue  so  long  as  the  spirit 
of  slavery  exists  in  the  South;  so  long  as  the  f reed- 
man  consents  to  remain  in  a  condition  more  terrible 
than  any  serfage  of  which  history  gives  account. 
How  can  this  condition  of  things  be  broken  up.^ 
How  can  the  master  class  be  made  to  realize  that  it 
is  no  longer  slave-holding,  and  the  slave  has  been  set 
free.^  And  how  can  the  freedman  be  made  to  feel 
and  realize  that  having  been  emancipated,  practical 
liberty  is  within  his  reach,  and  that  it  is  his  duty  to 
accept  and  enjoy  it,  with  its  richest  fruits.? 

"To  the  intelligent  and  sagacious  inquirer,  there 
can  be,  as  it  seems  to  me,  but  a  single  answer.  It  is 
this.     Let  the  freedman  of    the    South,  as  far  as 


A  NEW  CENTURY  305 

practicable,  take  from  the  old  plantocracy,  by  his 
exodus,  the 'strong  arms,  broad  shoulders,  stalwart 
bodies,  which,  by  compulsion,  have  been  made  to 
prop  and  sustain  such  system  too  long  already  in 
this  day  of  freedom.  Let  him  stand  from  beneath, 
and  the  fabric  will  fall,  and  a  new  and  necessary 
reconstruction  will  follow. 

"But  is  it  possible  to  transfer  all  the  freedmen  from 
the  Southern  part  of  the  country?  Perhaps  not. 
It  is,  however,  possible  and  practicable  to  so  reduce 
the  colored  laborers  of  the  South  by  emigration  to 
the  various  states  of  the  North  and  West,  as  to 
compel  the  land-holders — the  planters — to  make 
and  to  observe  reasonable  contracts  with  those 
who  remain,  to  compel  all  white  classes  there  to 
act  in  good  faith,  and  address  themselves  to  nec- 
essary labor  upon  the  plantation,  as  well  as  else- 
where obeying  the  law  and  respecting  the  rights 
of  their  neighbors. 

"Even  the  exodus  movement  just  commenced, 
small  as  it  is,  insignificant  as  it  appears  to  be,  has 
produced  in  this  regard  a  state  of  feeling  in  the 
South  which  justifies  entirely  the  opinion  here  ex- 
pressed. Where  shall  he  go.?  It  has  already  been 
indicated  that  the  North  and  West  furnish  the 
localities  open  to  the  freedman  and  to  which  he 
should  go.  It  certainly  would  not  be  wise  for  him 
in  large  numbers  to  settle  in  any  one  state  of  the 
union ;  but  even  in  thousands,  he  would  be  received, 
welcomed  to  kind,  hospitable  homes  in  the  various 
states  of  the  sections  named,  where  labor,  edu- 
cational advantages,  and  the  opportunity  to  rise 
as  a  man,  a  citizen  and  a  voter  would  be  furnished 
him. 


3o6  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Objections — "  But  it  is  claimed  that  the  Negro 
should  remain  in  the  South  and  demand  of  the 
Government  protection  from  the  wrongs  which 
are  perpetrated  against  him.  Here  it  must  be 
remembered  that  in  emigrating  from  the  South  to 
the  North  or  West,  the  freedman  is  simply  moving 
from  one  section  of  our  common  country  to  an- 
other, simply  exercising  his  individual  right  to  go, 
when  and  where  it  suits  his  convenience  and  ad- 
vantage. In  the  next  place,  it  is  in  exercising  such 
constitutional  rights  that  he  leaves  a  section  of  the 
country  where  slavery  has  created  a  barbarous  and 
oppressive  public  sentiment,  the  source  of  all  the 
abuses  which  he  suffers. 

"But  it  is  claimed  that  the  freedman  cannot  en- 
dure a  Northern  and  Western  climate,  that  the 
winters  are  too  severe  for  him. 

"Never  was  a  greater  mistake.  While  it  is  true 
the  colored  man,  as  he  goes  North  into  colder  re- 
gions, adapts  himself  with  ease  to  the  climate.  In 
no  part  of  our  country  does  he  show  more  robust 
health,  finer  physical  development  and  endurance, 
and  consequent  longevity, than  in  the  Western  and 
Northern  portion  of  our  country.  It  is  where  the 
zymotic  and  malarial  disorders  prevail,  that  the 
Negro  sickens  and  dies,  and  this  is  abundantly 
shown  in  the  fearful  death  rate  that  is  given  by 
sanitarians,  as  connected  with  the  warm  and 
tropical  regions  of  our  own  and  other  countries. 

"Again  it  is  urged  that  the  freedman  is  too  poor 
to  emigrate.  Those  who  urge  this  objection  ought 
to  remember,  that  it  is  the  poor  and  oppressed  in 
all  ages  and  in  all  countries  who  have  emigrated. 
One  never  emigrates  only  as  he  seeks  to    improve 


A  NEW  CENTURY  307 

his  condition,  to  relieve  himself  and  family  of  want, 
to  escape  oppression  and  abuse.  It  is  wise  for  the 
poor,  starving,  oppressed  Irishman  to  quit  the 
country  of  his  nativity  to  seek  a  new  home  in  our 
goodly  land,  where  opportunity  of  culture,  the  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth,  advancement  and  success 
await  his  endeavors.  Then  let  no  man  either  des- 
pise or  oppose  the  exodus  of  the  freedman,  who 
now,  realizing  his  real  condition,  emigrates  from 
the  old  plantation  and  Negro  quarter,  from  the 
scene  of  his  former  enslavement,  from  the  hateful 
and  oppressive  control  of  a  stupid  and  tyrannical 
landed  aristocracy,  from  poverty,  from  ignorance, 
from  degradation,  to  a  home  among  those  who 
value  freedom,  free  institutions,  educational  and 
material,  moral  and  Christian  worth,  individual 
efforts  and  achievement — to  a  home  among  those 
who,  loyal  to  God  and  man,  never  fail  to  give 
sympathy,  success  and  hospitable  welcome  to  the 
needy  son  of  Ireland,  or  the  yet  more  needy  son  of 
Mississippi,  who  comes  seeking,  not  only  liberty, 
but  the  opportunity  to  labor,to  live  and  achieve  in 
their  midst.  I  do  most  reverently  and  heartily  ac- 
cept the  lesson  contained  in  the  words:  'I  have 
surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are 
in  Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of 
their  taskmasters,  for  I  know  their  sorrows  and  I  am 
come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  to  bring  them  up  out  of  that  land 
unto  a  good  land,  and  large,  unto  a  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey.'" 

One  of  the  best  plantation  songs  we  have  heard, 
was  written  by  Thomas  P.  Westendorf,  commem- 
orative of  this  event,  entitled: 


3o8 


A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 


GOING  FROM  DE  COTTON  FIELDS. 


*'I's  going  from  de  cotton  fields,  I's  going  from  de  cane, 

I's  going  from  de  ole  log  hut  dat  stands  down  in  de  lane; 

De  boat  am  in  de  ribber  dat  hab  come  to  take  me  off, 

's  gone  and  jined  de  'Exodus'  dat's  making  for  de  Norf. 

Dey  tell  me  out  in  Kansas,  dat's  so  many  miles  away, 

De  colored  folks  am  flocking,  'cause  dey're  getting  better  pay-, 

I  don't  know  how  I'll  find  it  dar,  but  I  is  bound  to  try, 

So  when  de  sun  goes  down  to-night  I's  going  to  say  good-bye. 

Chorus, — I's  going  from  de  cotton  fields, 
And  ah!  it  makes  me  sigh; 
For  when  de  sun  goes  down  to-night, 
I's  going  to  say  good-bye. 

"But  Dinah  she  don't  want  to  go,  she  says  we're  getting  old, 

She's  'fraid  dat  she  will  freeze  to  death,  the  country  am  so  cold; 

De  story  'bout  de  work  and  pay  she  don't  believe  am  true, 

She's  begged  me  not  to  do  the  thing  dat  I  am  bound  to  do. 

And  so  I's  sold  de  cabin  and  de  little  patch  of  groun', 

Dat  good  ole  master  gave  us,  when  de  Yankee  troops  came  down; 

My  heart  am  awful  heavy,  and  de  tears  am  in  my  eye. 

For  when  de  sun  goes  down  to-night  I's  going  to  say  good-bye. 

Chorus. — 

"It  grieves  me  now  to  leave  the  place  where  I  was  born  and  bred. 
To  leave  de  friends  dat's  living,  and  de  graves  of  dem  dat's   dead; 
De  flow'rs  dat  grow  where  master  sleeps   will  miss  my  tender  care. 
No  hand  like  mine  will  ever  go  to  keep  dem  blooming  there. 
But  den  de  times  hab  got  so  hard,  and  I  is  ole  and  poor, 
De  hungry  wolf  am  looking  in  and  snarling  at  my  door; 
I's  got  to  help  de  chil'ren  some  before  I  comes  to  die, 
So  when  de  sun  goes  down  to-night  I's  going  to  say  good-bya." 

Chorus. — 


CHAPTER   XV. 
KENTUCKY'S  HOSPITALITY. 

Some  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Kentucky,  con^ 
temporary  with  Boone  and  Kenton,  brought  their 
negro  servants  with  them.  Naturally  these  shared 
with  their  masters  the  hair-breadth  escapes  and 
perilous  adventures  of  that  period,  and  often  dis- 
played bravery  unsurpassed. 

In  Collin's  history  of  Kentucky,  the  following  in- 
cident is  recorded:  "In  the  year  1781  or  2,  near 
Crab  Orchard,  in  Lincoln  County,  a  very  singular 
adventure  occurred  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Woods. 
One  morning  he  left  his  family,  consisting  of  a 
wife,  and  daughter  not  yet  grown,  and  a  lame  Negro 
man,  and  rode  off  to  the  station  near  by,  not  ex- 
pecting to  return  until  night.  Mrs.  Woods,  being 
a  short  distance  from  her  cabin,  was  alarmed  by 
discovering  several  Indians  advancing  towards  it. 
She  instantly  screamed  loudly  in  order  to  give  the 
alarm, and  ran  with  her  utmost  speed,  in  the  hope 
of  reaching  the    house    before   them.      In  this  she 

309 


3IO  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

succeeded,  but  before  she  could  close  the  door  the 
foremost  Indian  had  forced  his  way  into  the  house. 
He  was  instantly  seized  by  the  lame  Negro,  and 
after  a  short  scuffle,  they  both  fell  with  violence, 
the  Negro   underneath. 

"Mrs.  Woods  was  too  busily  engaged  in  keeping 
the  door  closed  against  the  party  without  to  at- 
tend to  the  combatants,  but  the  Negro,  holding  the 
Indian  tightly  in  his  arms,  called  to  the  young  girl 
to  take  the  ax  from  under  the  bed  and  dispatch 
him  by  a  blow  on  the  head.  She  immediately  at- 
tempted it,  but  the  first  attempt  was  a  failure.  She 
repeated  the  blow  and  killed  him.  The  other  In- 
dians were  at  the  door  endeavoring  to  force  it  open 
with  their  tomahawks.  The  heroic  Negro  now  rose 
and  proposed  to  Mrs.  Woods  to  let  in  another, 
andthey  would  soon  dispose  of  the  whole  of  them 
in  the  same  way.  The  cabin  was  only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  station,  the  occupants  of  which, 
having  discovered  the  perilous  situation  of  the  fam- 
ily, fired  on  the  Indians  and  killed  another,  when 
the  remainder  made  their  escape." 

Not  even  the  name  of  this  black  hero  is  given, 
when  he  justly  merited  his  freedom  for  this  brave 
deed. 

Mrs.  Connelly's  "Story  of  Kentucky"  gives  the 
following  incident: 

"When  Kentucky  was  first  settled,  a  night  at- 
tack was  made  by  a  band  of  Indians  upon  the 
home  of  Edmund  Cabell,  during  his  absence  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  family  were  left  in  the  care  of  an  uncle 
to  Mrs.  Cabell,'  and  black  Sam,  a  brave,  able- 
bodied  slave. 

"The  day  preceding  the  massacre  had  been  very 


HON.   H.   A.   RUCKER, 
Collector  Internal  Revenue,  State  of  Georgia. 


311 


312  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

hot  and  sultry,  so  Sam  was  sleeping  on  a  bunch  of 
hay  in  the  edge  of  the  woods.  About  midnight  he 
was  awakened  by  a  blaze  of  light  at  the  cabin, 
which  he  now  discovered  to  be  in  flames.  At  the 
same  instant  he  saw  that  the  house  was  surround- 
ed by  Indians,  who  now  began  a  general  massacre 
of  the  family,  all  of  whom,  with  one  exception,  were 
killed  by  the  light  of  their  burning  home.  The 
exception  was  a  little  girl,  who  was  carried  out  of 
the  building  by  one  of  the  Indians  and  laid  down 
about  halfway  between  the  house  and  where  our 
colored  hero  was  crouching  behind  the  hay.  The 
Indians  now  returned  to  the  house  to  get  more 
plunder;  this  was  Sam's  opportunity;  creeping  cau- 
tiously through  the  grass  and  weeds  at  imminent 
danger  of  being  seen  by  the  light  of  the  burning 
house,  or  attracting  the  attention  of  the  Indians 
by  any  disturbance  he  might  make  among  the 
bushes. 

"Providence  favored  him,  and  he  reached  the  child 
in  safety,  clasped  her  in  one  strong  arm,  and  retraced 
his  steps  in  the  same  cautious  manner.  He  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  child,  and  managed  to  keep 
her  quiet,  until  there  was  quite  a  distance  between 
him  and  the  Indians.  He  aimed  for  the  nearest 
Fort  and  traveled  all  night.  About  noon  next 
day,  having  lost  his  direction,  he  was  weak  from 
hunger  and  exhaustion.  He  found  a  spring  of 
water,  and  ripe  berries  which  kept  him  and  the 
child  from  starving.  Traveling  for  the  most  part 
at  night,  and  hiding  at  every  sound  for  fear  ^  of 
Indians,  he  reached  the  Fort  with  the  little  girl, 
both  of  them  more  dead  than  alive,  for  they  had 
spent  three  nights  and  a  portion  of  the  intervening 
days  in  the  woods. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  313 

"Sam  now  returned  to  his  master's  farm  to  look 
after  whatever  live  stock  was  left.  And  when  the 
master  returned  from  Virginia  and  was  viewing 
the  blackened  ruins  of  his  once  happy  home,  faith- 
ful Sam  appeared  before  him,  and  kept  him  from 
utter  despair,  by  giving  him  the  first  intelligence 
that  little  Augusta,  the  darling  of  his  heart,  was 
alive  and  safe  at  the  Fort. 

"Mr. Cabell  now  gladdened  Sam's  heart  by  tellmg 
him  that  he  had  brought  his  family  with  him  from 
Virginia,  in  consideration  of  his  faithfulness  and 
lonely  condition  in  the  wilderness.  So  Sam  was  in 
some  measure  rewarded  for  his  heroism  and  fidelity. 

"Augusta  Cabell  became  in  time  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  young  ladies  in  Kentucky,  and  was  very 
grateful  to  her  dusky  defender." 

On  March  22,  1794,  William  Bryant,  of  Lincoln 
County,  advertised  for  his  negro  man,  Sam,  and 
offered  ten  dollars  reward  for  securing  him,  so  that 
the  owner  could  get  him  again.  This  was  the 
first  slave  advertised  in  Kentucky.  Such  adver- 
tisements became  quite  common,  not  only  in  this 
state  but  throughout  the  South,sometimes  offering 
rewards  for  runaway  slaves,  alive  or  dead.  There 
were,  perhaps,  fewer  such  advertisements  in  Ken- 
tucky papers  than  any  Southern  state. 

The  truth  is,  in  the  words  of  N.  S.  Shaler,  "the 
Negroes  of  Kentucky  were  not  generally  suffering 
from  any  bonds  that  weighed  heavily  upon  them. 
Slavery  in  Kentucky  was  of  the  domestic  sort;  that 
is,  it  was,  to  most  of  their  race,  not  a  grievous  bur- 
den to  bear.  This  is  well  shown  by  the  fact  that 
thousands  of  them  quietly  remained  with  their 
masters    in   the  counties    along   the    Ohio  River, 


314  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

when  in  any  night  they  might  have  escaped  across 
the  border. 

"Still  the  Underground  Railroad  System,  although 
it  did  not  free  many  slaves  in  Kentucky,  greatly 
irritated  the  minds  of  their  owners,  and  even  of  the 
class  that  did  not  own  slaves." 

''Perhaps,"  wrote  Mrs.  Stowe,  "the  mildest  form 
of  the  system  of  slavery  is  to  be  seen  in  the  state 
of  Kentucky.  The  general  prevalence  of  agricul- 
tural pursuits  of  a  quiet  and  gradual  nature,  not 
requiring  those  periodic  seasons  of  hurry  and  pres- 
sure that  are  called  for  in  the  business  of  more 
Southern  districts,  makes  the  task  of  the  Negro  a 
more  healthful  and  reasonable  one, while  the  mas- 
ter, content  with  a  more  gradual  style  of  acqui- 
sition, had  not  those  temptations  to  hard-hearted- 
ness  which  always  overcome  frail  human  nature, 
when  the  prospect  of  sudden  and  rapid  gain  is 
weighed  in  the  balance  with  no  heavier  counter- 
poise than  the  interests  of  the  helpless  and  un- 
protected." 

There  is  much  truth  in  this  statement,  but  it 
occurs  to  me  as  a  Kentuckian,  and  the  son  of  a 
slave-holder,  that  a  number  of  circumstances  con- 
tributed to  make  the  lot  of  the  Kentucky  slave 
much  easier  than  those  in  the  cotton  or  sugar  belt. 

In  the  first  place,  the  nature  of  the  country  is 
better  adapted  to  labor,  being  for  the  most  part 
elevated  and  rolling.  As  there  are  no  swamps  to 
produce  chills  and  fever,  it  is  a  remarkably  healthy 
country,  with  a  delightful  and  invigorating  cli- 
mate. Then  too,  in  the  agricultural  portions  of 
the  state,  instead  of  vast  plantations  of  thousands 
of  acres,  and  a  small  army  of  slaves,  driven    from 


A  NEW  CENTURY  315 

morning  until  night  by  a  brutal  overseer,  or  still 
more  brutal  negro  driver,  small  farms  and  few 
slaves  were  the  rule.  As  a  general  rule  the  Ken- 
tucky farmer,  or  one  of  his  sons,  managed  the 
farm  without  the  aid  of  a  regular  hired  overseer, 
although  he  would  often  put  one  of  the  slaves  in 
for  foreman.  This  foreman  was  generally  the  best 
worker  and  most  trustworthy  hand  on  the  farm, 
and  was    expected    to  lead,  not    drive  the    work. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Kentucky 
staples,  such  as  live  stock,  the  cereals,  tobacco 
and  hemp  (she  leads  the  world  in  the  two  last), 
did  not  yield  such  immense  profits  as  to  tempt  the 
cupidity  of  the  farmers,  or  require  such  forced  and 
exhausting  labor.  We  are  also  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  this  mild  form  of  servitude  was  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  average  Kentucky  farmer 
was  and  is  a  whole-souled,  big  hearted  man.  Hap- 
py, prosperous,  and  well-fed  himself,  he  liked  to 
have  even  his  slaves  share  in  his  good  cheer. 

Patty  B.  Semple,  a  correspondent  for  the  At- 
lantic Monthly,  writing  of  an  old  Kenutcky  home 
in  the  ante-bellum  days,  says:  "After  breakfast, 
there  was  always  a  group  of  Negroes  about  the 
porch,  each  one  armed  with  a  tin  cup  or  plate, 
and  waiting  for  the  daily  allowance  of  molasses, 
sugar,  and  coffee  to  be  given  out  from  the  store- 
room, hoping  also  for  some  special  tidbit  from 
the  family  table."  We  do  not  recall  having  read 
any  account  like  that  about  any  other  state. 

In  describing  the  Blue  Grass  farmer,  she  does  it 
so  perfectly  that  we  know  she  must  have  been 
there.  "He  was  not  a  hard  master,  although  per- 
haps not  a  particularly  indulgent  one.   A  practical 


3i6  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

farmer,  he  insisted  that  the  work  should  be  prop- 
erly done,  and  to  keep  the  indolent,  careless  Negroes 
up  to  the  mark  required  an  immense  amount  of 
oversight.  His  horse  was  saddled  before  break- 
fast, and  he  was  mounted,  and  about  the  farm 
early  and  late,  knowing  the  old  maxim  that  the 
eye  of  the  master  will  do  more  work  than  both 
his  hands.  He  went  to  bed  early,  usually  rose 
between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  smoked  a  meditation  pipe  on  the  back  porch 
before  any  one  else  was  about,  and  then  at  'sun- 
up' his  stentorian  voice  would  be  heard  starting 
the  hands.  His  constant  companion  was  a  corn- 
cob pipe  filled  with  Kentucky  tobacco,  which  was 
always  lighted  by  a  live  coal,  and  one  of  the  most 
common  sounds  about  the  place  was  his  call  to 
one  of  the  little  darkies,  'Bring  me  a  coal  of  fire, 
Polly,'  or  Lizzie,  or  Tom,  as  the  case  might  be. 
The  piece  of  glowing  wood  was  carried  in  a  pair 
of  short  tongs  from  the  kitchen  fire,  and  as  he  blew 
away  the  ashes  and  applied  it  to  his  pipe,  he  put 
good-natured,  teasing  questions  to  the  little  Negro 
who  had  brought  it.  These  colloquies  were  the 
source  of  infinite  enjoyment  to  him  and  embar- 
rassment to  his  victim,  who  stood  uneasily  on 
one  foot,  twisting  the  other  about  and  boring  into 
the  ground  with  one  great  toe,  until  the  tongs 
were  handed  back  with  some  extravagant  compli- 
ment, and  the  interview  ended." 

We  are  inclined  to  believe  what  contributed 
most  to  alleviate  the  condition  of  the  Kentucky 
slave  was  the  constant  lashing  of  conscience.  A 
large  number,  perhaps  a  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  state  did  not  believe  slavery  was  right.   Now, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  Zi? 

we  know  this  bare  statement,  unbacked  by  strong 
evidence,  would  not  pass  unchallenged;  but  the 
evidence,  is  at  hand.  There  is  abundant  proof 
that  the  conscience  of  the  great  body  of  the  people 
was  ever  sensitive  concerning  the  right  of  one 
man  to  own  another. 

The  institution  was  recognized  at  first,  simply 
because  most  of  the  early  settlers  were  from  the 
slave-holding  states  and  brought  their  slaves  with 
them.  From  an  early  period  they  began  to  eman- 
cipate them,  and  to  place  statute  restriction  on 
their  importation. 

When  the  new  constitution  was  to  be  adopted, 
thirty  thousand  votes,  representing  the  wealthiest 
and  most  intelligent  slave-holders,  were  cast  in 
favor  of  an  open  clause,  by  which  gradual  emancipa- 
tion should  become  a  law,  as  soon  as  practical. 
One  religious  denomination  after  another  denounc- 
ed slavery  as  a  moral  evil.  Additional  proof  that 
there  was  a  growing  sentiment  against  this  insti- 
tution and  in  favor  of  a  gradual  emancipation,  is 
found  in  Dr.  J.  Freeman  Clark's  "Anti-Slavery 
Days."  He  was  a  citizen  of  Kentucky  from  1833 
to  1840;  and  states  that  slavery  existed  there  in  a 
comparatively  mild  form,  and  the  sentiment  of 
the  better  class  of  people  was  decidedly  against  it, 
for  the  reason  that  they  considered  it  a  wrong  and 
an  evil,  that  should  be  abolished. 

A  young  man  from  Boston  called  upon  Dr. 
Clark  in  Louisville,  and  was  invited  to  take  a  drive 
with  him  into  the  country  to  visit  some  of  the 
plantations.  The  Boston  youth  was  a  member  of 
one  of  the  very  conservative  New  England  families 
who    opposed    abolition  as  a  fanatical  movement, 


3i8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  thought  the  abolitionists  endangered  the  safety 
of  the  union. 

The  first  place  they  came  to  was  the  home  of 
Judge  Jno.  J.  Marshall,  who  belonged  to  one  of 
the  old  families  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  Mrs. 
Marshall  being  the  sister  of  Jno.  G»  Birney,  after- 
wards a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  on  the  Free 
Soil  ticket. 

As  the  Marshalls  owned  slaves,  and  there  were 
a  large  number  of  Negro  children  about  the  yard, 
the  young  man  thought  it  opportune  to  speak  fa- 
vorably of  the  institution.  "Mrs.  Marshall,"  said 
he,  "I  think  our  people  at  the  North  are  very  much 
mistaken  in  attacking  slavery  as  they  do.  It  seems 
to  me  there  is  nothing  so  very  bad  about  it."  Mrs. 
Marshall  replied:  "It  will  not  do,  sir,  to  defend 
slavery  in  this  family.  The  Marshalls  and  the 
Birneys  have  always  been  abolitionists."  Of  course 
the  young  man  was  surprised  at  that  statement 
coming  from  the  wife  of  a  slave-holder,  but  a  still 
greater  surprise  awaited  him  at  the  next  house  at 
which  they  called,  the  home  of  Judge  John  Speed, 
who  had  a  large  plantation  and  about  sixty  slaves. 

The  Boston  youth,  thinking  no  doubt  that  Mrs. 
Marshall  was  an  exceptional  person,  and  it  would 
be  safe  this  time  to  advocate  slavery,  said:  "Judge, 
I  do  not  see  but  the  slaves  are  as  happy  as  our 
laboring  classes  at  the  North."  "Well."  answered 
the  Judge,  "I  do  the  best  I  can  to  make  my  slaves 
comfortable;  but  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  you  cannot 
make  a  slave  happy,  do  what  you  will.  God  Al- 
mighty never  meant  a  man  to  be  a  slave,  and  he 
cannot  be  happy  while  he  is  a  slave."  The  young 
man  continued  in  amazement,    "But  what  ciin  be 


A  NEW  CENTURY  3^9 

done  about  it,  sir?  They  are  not  able  to  take  care 
of  themselves,  if  they  were  free.  How  could  they 
manage  if  slavery  were  abolished?" 

"I  think  I  could  show  you  three  men  on  my 
plantation,"  replied  Judge  Speed,  "who  might  go 
to  the  Kentucky  legislature ;  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
they  would  make  just  as  good  legislators  as  the 
average  men  that  you  find  there  now."  This  state- 
ment, coming  from  such  a  source,  astonished  the 
young  man  still  more;  but  it  was  a  plain  state- 
ment of  the  exact   truth. 

With  the  Kentuckian's  characteristic  fondness  for 
fair  play, the  question  in  all  its  bearings  was  freely 
discussed.  "The  Louisville  Journal,"  then  edited  by 
Geo.  D.  Prentice,  was  ever  ready  to  welcome  and 
print  articles  showing  the  evils  of  slavery. 

Dr.  Clark  recalls  a  discussion  in  Louisville  which 
lasted  three  nights;  in  that  time  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  slavery  was  covered;  one  side  assuming 
that  it  was  right,  and  a  good  thing,  and  ought  to 
be  maintained;  and  the  other  that  it  was  an  evil, 
morally,  socially,  and  poHtically,  and  as  such 
should  be  abolished.  This  was  not  an  ordinary 
debate,  some  of  the  most  cultured  and  intelligent 
gentlemen  in  the  city,  including  Dr.  Clark,  partici- 
pating on  either  side,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem, 
a  majority  were  on  the  side  of  those  who  con- 
tended that  it  was  an  evil  and  a  wrong. 

The  best  article  on  slavery  in  Kentucky  we  have 
seen  was  written  by  James  Lane  Allen.  In  his 
"Uncle  Tom  at  Home  in  Kentucky,"  he  quotes  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  to  him  from  Mrs. 
Stowe,  dated  Apr.  30,  1886:  "In  relation  to  your 
letter,  I  would  say  that  I  never  lived  in  Kentucky, 


320  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

but  spent  many  years  in  Cincinnati,  which  is  sep- 
arated from  Kentucky  only  by  the  Ohio  River, 
which,  as  a  shrewd  politician  remarked,  was  nearly 
dry  one  half  of  the  year  and  frozen  the  other.  My 
father  was  president  of  Lane  Theological  Seminary 
at  Walnut  Hills,  near  Cincinnati,  and  with  him  I 
traveled  and  visited  somewhat  extensively  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  there  became  acquainted  with  those 
excellent  slave-holders  delineated  in  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin.  I  saw  many  counterparts  of  the  Shelbys — 
people  humane,  conscientious,  just  and  generous, 
who  regarded  slavery  as  an  evil  and  were  anxiously 
considering  their  duties  to  the  slave,  But  it  was 
not  till  I  had  finally  left  the  West,  and  my  hus- 
band was  settled  as  professor  in  Bowdoin  College, 
Brunswick,  Maine,  that  the  passage  of  the  fugi- 
tive slave  law  and  the  distress  that  followed  it 
drew  this  from  me." 

Thus  we  find  that  Mrs.  Stowe  testifies  to  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  strong  undercurrent  of  intense 
opposition  to  slavery  in  Kentucky  at  that  time,  and 
that  the  slaves  she  saw  there    were    well   treated. 

A  close  analysis  of  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  will 
impress  one  with  the  thought  that  she  first  intro- 
duced the  reader  to  slavery  in  Kentucky,  because 
it  was  of  the  mildest  form;  that  she  might  cap  the 
climax  by  an  introduction  to  Legree's  Red  River 
cotton  plantation,  where  it  was  seen  in  its  most 
hideous  and  brutalizing  aspect. 

Another  proof  that  the  slaves  in  this  state  fared 
better  than  elsewhere,  is  seen  in  the  code  of  laws 
framed  to  regulate  slavery.  According  to  this,  "if 
slaves  were  inhumanly  treated  by  their  owner,  or  not 


A  NEW  CENTURY  321 

supplied  with  proper  food  and  clothing,  they  could 
be  taken  from  them  and  sold  to  a  better   master." 

A  few  cases  are  recorded,  of  slaves  who  had  been 
liberated  and  sent  to  Canada, voluntarily  returning 
into  service  under  their  former  masters. 

Even  in  Kentucky  there  were  slave-holders,  and 
slave  holders,  some  good,  some  bad,  and  some 
very  bad.  Those  who  were  kindest  to  their  slaves 
were  ready  to  put  down  an  abolitionist,  whom  they 
regarded  as  interfering  with  their  affairs,  and  bit- 
terly hated. 

The  saddest  feature  of  slavery  in  this  state  was 
the  internal  slave  trade.  That  negroes  were  regu- 
larly raised  for  the  Southern  market  cannot  be 
denied.  That  in  some  cases  brutalized  white  men 
sold  their  own  sons  and  daughters,  knowing  them 
to  be  such,  goes  unchallenged;  but  these  were  the 
exceptions  rather  than  the  rule. 

The  sentiment  of  a  majority  of  their  people  be 
ing  against  it,  the  slave  trade  was  not  as  large  as 
is  generally  believed.  Sometimes  a  farmer  would 
have  among  his  slaves  one  that  was  unruly  and 
even  vicious;  such  a  one  was  invariably  sold 
South.  But  the  chief  reason  for  which  slaves  were 
sold  was  embarrassment  by  debt  on  the  part  of  their 
master.  In  this  case  it  often  happened  that  the 
most  valuable  slaves  on  the  farm  were  sold,  as  in 
the  case  of  Uncle  Tom,  for  the  rascally  slave 
buyers, knowing  the  master's  condition, would  have 
none  but  the  best. 

There  is  a  hint  of  the  cause  of  such  sales,  in 
the  pathetic  strain,  seldom  appreciated; 

"By'n  by  hard  tunes  comes  a-knocking  at  the  door; 
Then  my  Old  Kentucky  Home,  good-night." 

On  one  occasion,  all  the  slaves  in  a  tobacco  field 


322  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

dropped  their  hoes  and  chased  a  rabbit  the  dogs  had 
started.  A  meddlesome  neighbor  reported  the  fact 
to  their  master.  But  he  received  the  indignant  an- 
swer from  the  old  gentleman,  "Sir,  I'd  have  whipped 
the  last  black  rascal  of  'em  if  they  hadn't   run  'im!" 

A  sketch  of  slavery  in  Kentucky  would  be  incom- 
plete without  some  mention  of  Cassius  Marcellus 
Clay,  "the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all;"  certainly 
the  greatest  of  Southern  Abolitionists,  and  perhaps 
the  equal  of  any  in  the  nation.  This  remarkable 
man  is  the  son  of  General  Green  Clay,  and  was  born 
in  Madison  County,  Oct.  19,  18 10.  After  taking  a 
course  of  study  at  Transylvania  University,  Lexing- 
ton, the  same  school  Jefferson  Davis  attended,  he 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1832. 

He  took  a  great  interest  in  politics  when  a  young 
man,  and  represented  Madison  and  Fayette  Counties 
each  in  the  Legislature,  where  he  made  a  brilliant 
record. 

He  issued  the  first  copy  of  the  "True  American," 
from  Lexington,  June  3,  1845.  This  paper  was  de- 
voted to  the  overthrow  of  slavery  in  Kentucky.  It 
required  great  courage  in  those  turbulent  times  to 
edit  an  anti-slavery  paper  in  the  South.  It  seemed 
like  bearding  the  lion  in  his  den.  But  Cassius  M. 
Clay  was  the  "boldest  of  all  the  enemies  of  slavery." 
His  soul  was  afiame  with  hatred  and  disgust  for  hu- 
man servitude.  Naturally  a  paper  edited  by  such  a 
man  would  be  a  powerful  philippic  hurled  against  the 
detested  institution;  and  while  it  made  many  friends 
for  the  cause  he  espoused,  it  heated  its  enemies  seven 
times  more  than  they  were  wont  to  be  heated. 

Accordingly  on  Aug.  18,  1845,  there  was  a  great 
mass  meeting  held  in  Lexington,  of  citizens  from  all 
over  central  Kentucky,  irrespective  of  party.  At  this 
meeting  it  was  resolved  that  the  press  and   materials 


A  NEW  CENTURY  323 

of  the  "True  American"  should  be  sent  beyond  the 
confines  of  the  state.  A  committee  carefully  boxed 
up  all  his  outfit  and  shipped  it,  expenses  prepaid,  to 
Cincinnati;  after  which  they  sent  Mr.  Clay  the  ad- 
dress of  the  house  to  which  they  consigned  it,  subject 
to  his  order. 

The  Kentuckian's  love  of  fair  play  is  again  reflected 
in  this  incident,  when  it  is  remembered  that  in  the 
case  of  Lovejoy  the  pro-slavery  ruffians  from  Mis- 
souri and  Illinois  murdered  him  outright,  after  de- 
stroying four  presses. 

Mr.  Clay  afterwards  obtained  judgment  against 
two  of  the  committee  for  twenty-five  hundred  dollars, 
which  was  paid  by  citizens  of  Fayette  and  adjcining 
counties. 

Mr.  Clay  commanded  the  Old  Infantry  in  the  Mex- 
ican War.  Returning  home,  he  was  presented  with 
a  sword  for  gallant  conduct.  He  was  also  minister 
to  Russia  in  1861,  Major  General  of  Volunteers  in 
1862,  and  again  minister  to  Russia  from  1863  to  '69. 

He  was  once  nominated  for  governor  of  Kentucky, 
with  George  P.  Blakey  of  Logan  County  on  the 
ticket  for  lieutenant-governor. 

He  now  resides  at  his  beautiful  home,  White  Hall, 
Kentucky.  The  sunset  of  his  long  life  is  as  peaceful 
and  quiet  as  his  earlier  years  were  turbulent. 

His  nephew  and  namesake,  Cassius  M.  Clay, Jr., of 
Bourbon  County,  is  now  a  strong  candidate  for  gover- 
nor. This  Mr.  Clay  has  been  a  member  of  the  Ken- 
tucky Legislature,  and  was  President  of  the  late  con- 
stitutional convention  of  that  state.  As  he  is  from 
the  county  where  the  author  spent  his  "boyhood's 
happy  hours,"  and  where  his  people  still  live,  most 
of  whom  are  Clay  men,  and  as  he  is  thoroughly 
competent  to  fill  the  high  place  to  which  he  aspires, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  he  will  be  elected. 


324  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

The  two  greatest  sons  of  Kentucky  were  Henry 
Clay  and  Abraham  Lincoln,  for  she  claims  them  both, 
the  one  by  adoption,  the  other  by  birth.  Each  was 
strangely  identified  with  the  question  of  slavery;  each 
was  a  pure  patriot  who  loved  his  country;  each  was 
strictly  conscientious  in  the  belief  that  his  own  view 
was  the  true  solution  to  the  vexatious  problem,  and 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  nation.  Kentuckians  al- 
ways believed  in  Henry  Clay;  her  cardinal  points  of 
political  faith  might  be  summed  up  in  the  dictum, 
"There  is  a  just  God  who  presides  over  the  destiny  oi 
nations, and  Henry  Clay  is  his  prophet."  But  this  hero- 
worship  was  not  confined  to  Kentucky.  I  remembei 
when  a  boy  hearing  Theodore  Tilton  deliver  a  lecture 
at  Paris.  In  speaking  of  his  visit  to  Henry  Clay's 
grave  and  monument,  while  at  Lexington  the  day 
before,  he  said:  "As  I  neared  that  sacred  spot  I  im- 
agined I  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me,  'Put  off  thy 
shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou 
standest  is  holy  ground.'  "  It  is  an  imposing, awe-in- 
spiring monument  Kentucky  has  erected  over  his  re 
mains,  and  can  be  seen  several  miles  from  Lexingtor, 
in  almost  any  direction. 

Illinois  has  built  a  still  more  imposing  monument 
in  honor  of  her  greatest  adopted  son,  at  Springfield. 
The  author  stood  once  and  viewed  first  the  monu- 
ment, and  then  a  group  of  dusky  freedmen,  as,  with 
heads  reverently  uncovered  and  tears  in  their  eyes, 
they  were  gazing  at  Lincoln's  statue,  that  the  image 
might  be  photographed  on  their  minds  and  hearts. 

It  would  not  have  taken  them  long  to  decide  that 
Lincoln  was  not  only  a  greater  man  than  Clay,  but 
in  some  respects  the  greatest  man  America  ever  pro- 
duced. 

The  contrast  between  the  great  compromiser  and 
the  great  emancipator  might  be  stated  in   this   way. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  325 

Henry  Clay  said,  "I  would  rather  be  right  than  to  be 
President,"  but  he  was  neither  right  nor  President. 
Lincoln  made  no  such  boast, but  he  was  do//i  i-ig/it 
and  P resident.  Clay  no  doubt  did  the  best  he  could 
for  his  day  and  generation,  under  all  circumstances. 
He  was  frequently  misunderstood  and  misquoted,  be- 
cause his  enemies  would  persistently  put  the  words  of 
Cassius  M.  Clay,  the  abolitionist,  into  the  mouth  of 
Henry  Clay,  the  compromiser;  the  opposite  party 
could  not,  or  would  not,  understand  that  there  were 
two  Clays  from  Lexington,  Kentucky,  each  of  whom 
was  a  prominent  politician  and  statesman,  and  the 
leader  of  his  party  in  that  state,  but  their  views  on 
the  slavery  question  were  as  wide  apart  as  the  two 
poles. 

An  amusing  incident  is  told  by  Mrs.  Pickard.  It 
seems  that  Mr.  Clay  had  a  favorite  servant  named 
Aaron,  who  was  his  carriage  driver.  He  was  very 
competent,  but  would  take  a  drink  of  whisky  every 
opportunity,  and  sometimes  become  intoxicated.  "On 
one  occasion  he  drove  Mrs.  Clay  into  Lexington, 
and  while  she  was  shopping,  he  was  drinking.  By 
the  time  she  was  ready  to  go  home  Aaron  was  inca- 
pable of  driving. 

"Much  to  her  mortification, she  was  compelled  to 
hire  a  driver  in  order  to  get  home.  Justly  indignant, 
she  resolved  that  Aaron  should  be  punished;  so  she 
told  her  husband  all  about  it.  Calling  the  overseer 
to  the  house  the  next  morning,  Mr.  Clay  repeated 
the  circumstance  and  instructed  him  to  take  the 
offender  to  the  carriage  house  and  give  him  a  light 
whipping.  "Now, do  it  quietly,  said  he,  and  be  sure 
not  to  cut  his  skin.  I  don't  want  to  hear  any  dis- 
turbance.     Do  it  as  gently  as  possible." 

The  overseer  assented  and  went  cut.  One  of  the 
maids  happened  to  overhear    the    conversation,  and 


326  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

slipping  out  of  the  house,  she  told  Aaron  all  about  it. 

"Forewarned  is  forearmed,  and  fortifying  himself 
with  a  drink  of  whisky,  he  meekly  responded  to  the 
overseer's  call  and  went  with  him  into  the  carriage 
house,  and  the  door  was  fastened  on  the  inside.  'I 
am  sorry  to  have  to  whip  you,'  said  the  overseer, 
*but  it  is  Mr,  Clay's  orders;  he  said  your  drinking 
habits  had  annoyed  your  mistress  and  you  must  be 
punished.*  'Well,  if  Massa  say  so,  then  it  must  be 
so,  but  you  needn't  tie  me — I  won't  be  tied!'  'Very 
well,'  replied  the  overseer,  throwing  down  the  rope, 
'you  need  not  be  tied  if  you  will  stand  still;  but  you 
must  take  off  your  coat. '  'Yes,  sir,  but  if  I  takes  off  my 
coat  to  be  whipped,  you  ought  to  take  yourn  off  first, 
to  whip  me! ' 

"The  overseer  saw  that  he  had  been  drinking  and 
knew  he  must  indulge  his  whims  if  he  would  obey 
Mr.  Clay's  orders  and  keep  quiet;  so  he  pulled  off  his 
coat,  and  the  slave  laid  his  beside  it.  Next  followed  the 
two  vests.  'Now  your  shirt, Aaron,'  said  he.  'Yes, sir, 
but  you  must  take  off  yourn  first.'  This  was  going 
farther  for  quiet's  sake  than  the  overseer  had  intended, 
but  he  thought  it  would  be  best  to  humor  him.  He 
had  long  wished  for  a  chance  to  humble  Aaron,  and 
the  time  had  come.  But  behold!  no  sooner  had  he 
lifted  his  arms  to  pull  his  shirt  over  his  head,  than 
Aaron  seized  the  garment,  a  strong  new  one,  and 
twisting  it  around  his  neck,  held  him  fast.  Then 
catching  the  whip,  he  applied  it  vigorously  to  the 
overseer's  naked  back, raising  the  skin  at  every  stroke. 
His  victim  screamed  and  threatened  him  with  ven- 
geance, but  all  in  vain;  the  blows  fell  hard  and 
fast. 

"Mr.  Clay  heard  the  outcry  and  grew  angry.  *I  told 
him,'  said  he,  'to  make  no  noise,  and  to  be  sure  not 
to  whip  the  poor  fellow  severely.  He  must  be  cut- 
ting him  to  pieces.' 


A  NEW  CENTURY  3^7 

"He  hastened  to  the  carriage  house  and  heard  the 
whizzing  of  the  whip  as  it  descended  on  the  sufferer's 
back.  'Open  the  door, '  he  cried !  *Didn'  t  I  tell  you 
not  to  whip  him  hard?     Open  the  door,  I  say.' 

"♦O,  Mr.  Clay!  it's  Aaron  whipping  me!  I  haven't 
given  him  a  blow.' 

"'Aaron,'  cried  the  master,  'open  the  door!  In- 
stantly the  slave  obeyed.  With  his  right  hand,  in 
which  he  still  held  the  whip  that  he  had  used  to  such 
good  purpose,  he  opened  the  door,  while  with  his  left 
he  retained  his  vice-like  grasp  of  the  twisted  shirt. 
His  face  was  all  complacency,  yet  his  eyes  twinkled 
with  mirth,  and  a  roguish  smile  lurked  at  the  corner 
of  his  mouth. 

"Mr.  Clay  stood  for  a  moment  mute  with  astonish^ 
ment.  *  But  when  he  fully  comprehended  the  strange 
scene,  he  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh,  and  although  the 
overseer,  as  soon  as  he  was  released,  proceeded  to 
explain  to  him  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been 
caught,  and  insisted  that  he  should  now  be  allowed 
to  whip  Aaron,  his  arguments  were  lost.  The  mas- 
ter quietly  expressed  his  opinion  that  there  had  been 
whipping  enough— it  was  not  necessary  to  go  any 
farther."  ^         ^       ^_ 

Almost  my  earliest  recollection  was  the  sale  which 
followed  my  father's  death,  at  the  old  homestead  in 
Fayette  County.  I  remember  after  the  miscellaneous 
assortment  of  farming  implements,  stock,  grain, etc., 
was  disposed  of,the  negroes  were  put  up  on  the  block 
and  knocked  off  to  the  highest  bidder.  And  when 
Uncle  Lewis,  the  foreman, who  had  made  me  whistles 
and  toys, and  let  me  ride  with  him  to  the  field  and  back, 
was  put  up,  and  his  age  was  inquired,  and  his  teeth 
and  muscles  examined  much  as  they  did  the  horses  at 
the  barn,  it  cut  me  to  the  heart.  But  when  I  after- 
wards .«pw  Aunt  Ann,  my  black  "mammy,"  who  had 


328  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

carried  me  in  her  arms  and  nursed  me  on  her  bosonit 
and  my  little  black  playmates,  who  were  as  dear  to 
me  as  any  I  ever  had,  put  up  and  disposed  of,  the  iron 
entered  my  soul.  Child  as  I  was,  I  knew  that  what 
I  that  day  witnessed  was  wrong;  and  as  first  impres- 
sions are  the  most  lasting,  I  have  never  for  a  mo- 
ment thought  differently.  My  opposition  to  slavery, 
thus  aroused,  has  grown  with  my  growth  and  strength- 
ened with  my  strength,  until  now  "I  loathe,  abhor, 
my  very  soul  with  strong  disgust  is  stirred,  when- 
ever I  hear  or  write  or  tell  of  this  dark  institution  of 
hell." 

My  oldest  sister  married  a  well-to-do  farmer,  stock- 
dealer,  and  slave-holder  in  southern  Kentucky.  After 
my  mother's  family  moved  to  Paris,  this  sister,  with 
her  husband,  baby  girl  and  nurse,  came  on  a  few 
weeks'  visit.  My  mother's  cook,  Aunt  Dinah,  was 
very  industrious,  but  a  genuine  Guinea  negro  and  a 
veritable  virago.  She  ruled  over  the  nurse  and  house 
girl  with  a  rod  of  iron,  for  she  frequently  brandished 
the  poker,  as  she  scolded  and  berated  them  for  some 
misdemeanor.  Every  one  on  the  place  except  the 
mistress,  stood  in  awe  of  her. 

Now,  my  little  niece  was  devoted  to  her  nurse 
Ellen;  and  though  little  more  than  a  baby,  was  a 
precocious  child;  she  seldom  spoke,  but  when  she  did 
it  was  plain  and  pointed. 

Of  course  this  little  tot  stood  in  awe  of  Aunt  Dinah 
and  seldom  played  around  the  kitchen.  But  one  day 
when  the  cook  was  administering  her  usual  tongue 
lashing  to  the  nurse,  the  baby  girl  plucked  her  apron 
to  attract  attention,  and  said,  her  eyes  flashing,  "I 
thinks  you  treats  my  Ellen  mighty  mean!"  At  this 
the  cook  jumped  back  and  threw  up  both  hands  in 
amazement,  and  said,  "Fo  de  Lord,  whar  dat  chile 
come  from?  never  know'd  she  could  talk!"  She  never 
abused  Ellen  after. this«. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  329 

On  one  occasion    while    visiting    relativt.  the 

country  I  went  fishing  in  company  with  my  ^  /.in, a 
boy  older  and  larger  than  myself.  We  had  good  luck 
and  caught  a  nice  string  of  small  fish. 

Late  in  the  afternoon,  a  black  girl,  nearly  grov/n, 
named  Seeley,rode  out  into  the  pasture  on  horseback 
where  we  were,  to  drive  up  the  cows.  Like  every 
other  town  boy,  I  was  eager  for  a  ride,  and  as  my 
cousin  was  willing  to  carry  the  poles  and  fish,  I  wai 
soon  on  the  horse  behind  the  girl,  and  we  were  gal- 
loping to  the  back  part  of  the  pasture. 

Just  as  she  was  whipping  the  horse  into  still  greater 
speed,  the  girth  broke,  and  the  saddle  turning, threv. 
us  both  to  the  ground  with  violence.  She  landed  on 
her  feet  and  was  not  hurt,  but  I  broke  a  leg  by  the 
fall.  My  cousin,  who  saw  the  accident,  turned  back; 
between  them  they  caught  the  horse,  and  having  re- 
saddled  it, put  me  on  its  back,  and  while  one  of  them 
led  the  horse,  the  other  walked  by  my  side  and  sup- 
ported the  broken  leg. 

The  girl  was  in  great  distress,  and  said  "she  knew 
the  white  folks  would  kill  her  for  that."  My  cousin 
thought  so  too,  and  to  prevent  her  being  severely 
punished,  who  was  not  in  any  way  to  blame,  except 
that  she  rode  too  fast  thinking  to  please  me,  we  con- 
trived a  very  plausible  explanation  of  the  accident. 
"Let  us  tell  them,"  said  the  girl,  "that  you  raised  up 
a  rock  to  get  a  fishing  worm,  and  accidentally  let  it  fall 
back  against  your  leg  and  broke  it."  This  we  agreed 
to  do,  and  even  decided  which  rock  it  was,  namely, 
the  one  nearest  the  stump  at  the  end  of  the  dam. 
Well,  it  was  a  deliberate  falsehood,  but  I  believe  the 
recording  angel  blotted  it  out  under  the  circumstances. 
For  years  afterwards  the  identical  rock  that  fell 
against  the  boy's  leg  and  broke  it,  was  pointed  out 
to  passers-by. 


330  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Every  one  hasread  of  "Jimmie  Butler  and  the  owl," 
but  I  propose  to  tell  you  about  Tom  Butler  and  the 
mule.  The  circumstance  happened  on  my  Uncle's 
farm,  about  seven  miles  from  Paris,  where  I  spent 
several  vacations  when  a  boy.  There  were  seven 
hundred  acres  in  the  farm,  and  of  course  he  employed 
a  good  many  hands,  mostly  Negroes.  Among  them 
was  this  Tom  Butler,  a  young  man  about  twenty  years 
of  age;  and  with  the  work  stock,  was  a  big  one-eyed 
sorrel  mule  named  Jack,  who  could  jump  a  fence  even 
if  it  was  mule  high,  and  throw  his  rider  without  any 
apparent  effort.  One  day  I  was  riding  him  out  to 
work,  when  Tom  Butler  rattled  his  shoes,  while  sit- 
ting on  the  fence  on  the  blind  side  of  the  mule;  im- 
mediately he  arched  his  back  and  shot  skyward;  I 
found  myself  on  the  ground,  but  not  hurt.  My  cousin, 
who  was  manager,  happened  to  see  it,  and  made  the 
Negro  get  on  the  mule,  and  took  me  up  behind  him 
on  his  horse.  We  rode  on  ahead  and  left  the  other 
hands  to  follow.  Now  we  had  occasion  to  go  up  on 
one  side  of  a  "branch"  through  the  corn-field  to  get 
to  our  work.  Here  there  were  some  tall  horse  weeds 
beside  the  path.  At  the  suggestion  of  my  cousin,  I 
concealed  myself  in  those  weeds,  armed  with  a  long, 
sharp  stick.  When  the  mule  and  his  rider  came 
along  I  punched  him  in  the  ribs  on  the  blind  side  with 
my  stick;  you  can  readily  imagine  what  happened. 
My  cousin  was  looking  backward  at  the  time,  and  he 
declared  that  the  mule's  feet  actually  got  up  higher 
than  the  corn  tassels.  The  first  jump  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  throw  him, for  though  the  Negro  was  elevated 
some  distance  in  the  air,  he  fell  back  straddle  of  the 
mule. 

Jack  now  saw  that  he  had  more  than  an  ordinary 
rider,  and  as  he  had  never  failed  before,  and  had  his 
reputation  at  stake,  he  arched  his  back  and  shot  up 


A  NEW  CENTURY  3V 

ward  like  a  rocket;  and  the  Negro,  well,  he  fell  flat 
on  his  back  in  the  mud  and  water  of  this  little  creek. 
I  fully  expected  a  fight  or  a  foot  race,  but  no,  the 
good-natured  fellow  was  not  hurt;  he  arose,  pulled 
himself  out  of  the  mire,  and  with  a  grin  on  his  face 
said,  "We  is  eben  now;  less  quit." 

After  my  sister  was  left  a  widow,  I  made  my  home 
with  her  for  five  years,  and  managed  her  farm  and 
other  business.  Tobacco  was  the  great  staple,  and 
in  its  culture  we  sometimes  had  poor  whites  from 
Tennessee,  and  colored  people,  as  tenants  or  hired 
hands.  But  the  blacks  were  infinitely  more  satisfac- 
tory. They  had  been  taught  to  work  in  a  cruel  and 
exacting  school,  and  the  lesson  was  weM  learned. 

Among  the  black  people  on  the  place  was  an  intelli- 
gent mulatto  named  Griffin  Taylor,  and  his  family. 
He  had  belonged  to  a  wealthy  but  hard  master;  had 
also  been  a  soldier  during  the  war.  He  was  now  get- 
ting old,  and  being  afflicted  with  rheumatism, so  that 
he  worked  under  great  pain  and  disadvantage,  and 
having  a  large  family,  he  was  always  hard  pressed 
to  make  a  living.  I  remarked  to  him  one  day, 
"Griffin,  did  you  not  fare  better  when  a  slave  than  you 
do  now.-^" 

"Boss,"  was  the  reply, "have  you  read  the  fable  of 
the  fat  cur  dog  and  the  lean  wolf.?  Well,  in  those 
days  I  was  a  fat  cur  dog;  I  was  fed, passably  clothed, 
and  well  worked,  and  if  I  ventured  off  the  farm  at 
night  without  a  pass  I  was  liable  to  be  well  whipped. 
I  was  simply  chained  to  the  place,  a  mere  machine 
or  animal.  Now  I  am  like  that  lean  wolf;  I  have  a 
hard  scuffle  to  get  enough  to  eat,  but  I  am  free  to  go 
where  I  please  and  no  man  can  stop  me.  Better  a 
thousand  fold  liberty  with  poverty,  than  plenty  with 
slavery."  And  this  sentiment  is  practically  endorsed 
by  all  with  whom  I  have  ever  talked  on  the  subject. 


ZZ2  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

It  was  at  this  time  I  made  a  study  of  the  Negro 
race.  I  found  much  in  their  dispositions  and  char- 
acters that  was  admirable.  In  the  first  place,  they 
were  ambitious  to  excel  in  their  work.  This  ambition 
could  be  aroused  by  just  and  honest  settlements,  by 
discreet  and  honest  commendation,  not  flattery,  and 
by  getting  up  a  friendly  rivalry  between  two  cham- 
pions, or  set  of  hands.  Put  them  on  their  honor  and 
show  that  you  have  confidence  in  them,  and  you  will 
seldom  find  your  confidence  misplaced. 

For  instance,  my  sister  had  for  a  cook  a  colored 
auntie,  Aunt  Mandy,  or  "Black  Mammy"  as  we  some- 
times called  her.  She  was  brought  up  and  trained 
under  the  old  regime,  and  the  very  soul  of  honor. 
My  sister  and  her  family  could  go  and  leave  her  any 
length  of  time,  knowing  that  when  they  returned, 
everything  would  be  in  as  good  condition  as  when 
they  left. 

In  the  Blue  Grass  Region,  most  of  the  Negroes  have 
settled  in  little  villages  of  their  own,  around  the  large 
towns.  Here  the  more  thrifty  of  them  own  their 
homes,  and  others  can  rent  on  reasonable  terms. 
The  men  go  in  numbers  and  work  for  the  farmers 
from  Monday  morning  until  Saturday  night.  There 
are  no  better  farm  laborers  in  America  than  those 
Kentucky  black  men.  The  women,  however,  are  not 
inclined  to  be  as  industrious.  Often  during  harvest 
or  thrashing,  a  farmer  can  get  more  help  than  he 
wants  of  the  very  best  quality,  but  his  wife  can 
hardly  get  help  in  the  kitchen  for  love  or  money, 
when  at  the  nearest  colored  town  there  are  scores  of 
strong  young  women  absolutely  idle;  they  will  not 
go  into  the  country  to  work.  Still  a  few  of  the  wom- 
en are  as  industrious  as  the  men. 

The  colored  farm  hands  have  monopolized  the  work 
in  hemp,  especially  cutting  and  breaking;  this  is  due 


A  NEW  CENTURY  333 

to  the  fact  that  such  work  is  very  heavy,  and  un- 
pleasant owing  to  the  dust  which  is  constantly  flying. 
White  men  cannot  endure  the  dust  and  refuse  to 
work  at  it. 

The  work  they  seem  to  take  the  most  pride  in  is 
around  the  stable  where  the  trotting  or  race  horses 
are  trained.  Here  the  negro  is  in  his  glory  as  a  rub- 
ber, rider,  driver,  or  even  trainer;  for  some  of  the 
most  successful  premium  and  race  winners  in  Ken- 
tucky have  no  other  trainers  but  colored  men.  They 
take  as  much  pride  in  a  horse  they  train  or  drive  in 
a  race,  as  the  owner,  and  of  course  could  not  be 
bribed  to  "throw  off"  a  race. 

However,  a  colored  man  could  not  fail  to  take  in- 
terest in  horses  if  he  lived  in  that  favored  state;  \t  is 
simply  contagious,  especially  around  Lexington,  the 
fast  horse  center  of  the  universe.  Office  and  parlor 
of  the  leading  hotels  are  filled  with  paintings  of  horses 
in  the  very  poetry  of  motion.  If  two  men  are  en- 
gaged in  an  earnest  conversation,  nine  times  out  of 
ten  they  are  talking  "horse."  I  was  in  the  Phoenix 
Hotel  office  one  day,  when  a  gentleman  introduced 
two  others  as  follows:  "Allow  me  to  present  my 
friend  Colonel  Blank,  better  known  as  the  owner  of 
Membrino."  Indeed  "horseology,"  to  coin  a  word,  is 
considered  one  of  the  essential  accomplishments  of  a 
Blue  Grass  belle;  while  the  young  men  imagine  the 
"halo  around  the  moon  to  be  a  glorious  celestial 
race  track." 

Another  characteristic  of  the  Negro  I  have  often 
noticed.  They  are  never  willing  to  acknowledge  that 
they  are  perfectly  well;  you  can  often  hear  a  conver- 
sation about  like  this:  "How  you  do  dis  mo'nin'  ?" 
"I'm  tol'able." 

"How  you,Unc'  Dick?"  "I'm  tol'able,  bless  God!" 

"How  Rachel?"     "She's   tol'able."      "How    Unc' 


334  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Billy?"  "He's  tor  able."  "The  chil'un  all  well?" 
"Yes'um,  dey  all  tol'able."  When  probably  every 
individual  inquired  about  was  in  almost  perfect 
health. 

However,  we  think  with  Judge  W.  M.  Beckner 
of  the  Winchester  Democrat,  that  "the  Negro  pop- 
ulation of  Kentucky  is  of  a  better  class  than  that  of 
the  cotton  states." 

The  circle  of  those  who  recognize  the  "Brother  in 
Black"  as  a  useful  element  in  the  social  forces  of  the 
South,  is  widening  from  year  to  year. 

He  has  a  record  of  moral  and  intellectual  inprove- 
ment  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world/' 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS. 


335 


CHAPTER  XVL 

FATHERS  TO  THE  RACE. 

I.  Frederick  Douglass: — It  is  not  known  just 
when  this  remarkable  man  was  born;  but  he  supposes 
it  was  in  February,  1817,  in  the  village  ofTuckahoe, 
Maryland. 

His  mother's  name  was  Harriet  Bailey,  and  he  re- 
members that  she  was  the  only  black  person  in  the 
village  who  could  read;  he  also  recollects  that  she 
was  quite  black  and  glossy;  and  as  he  is  many  shades 
lighter,  his  father  must  have  been  a  white  man. 
Frederick  had  an  older  brother  named  Perry,  and 
four  sisters.  His  mother,  as  if  anticipating  his  future 
career  of  greatness, gave  him  a  name  in  keeping  with 
it;  she  called  him  Frederick  Augustus  Washington 
Bailey;  but  after  his  escape,  wishing  to  conceal  his 
identity,  he  took  the  name  he  has  since  borne. 

The  Negroes  on  his  master's  plantation  received 
the  usual  cruelty  accorded  slaves  in  Maryland  at  this 
time.  Many  were  the  floggings  the  boy  witnessed, 
which  brought  blood  from  the  backs  of  the  victim  ot 
an  overseer's  lash. 

However,  there  were  a  few  bright  spots  in  his  plan- 
tation life  to  which  he  could  look  back  with  pleasure. 

His  master's  daughter,  Mrs.  Thomas  Auld,  called 
by  the  slaves  "Miss  Lucretia,"  treated  him  with  great 
kindness;  indeed  he  became  quite  a  pet  with  her,  and 
often  when  hungry,  his  usual  condition,  would  sing 
under  her  window,   receiving  for    his  pay    a    slice    of 

336 


A  NEW  CENTURY  337 

bread  and  butter.  When  struck  on  the  forehead 
b/  another  slave  boy,  she  it  was  who  dressed  his 
bleeding  wound. 

After  this,  he  was  sent  by  his  master  to  Baltimore, 
where  his  new  mistress,  the  wife  of  Hugh  Auld,  was 
very  kind  to  him,  and  began  teaching  him  to  read; 
but  was  prevented  by  her  husband,  who  said  in  the 
presence  of  the  boy,  that  "learning  would  ruin  any 
nigger"  and  if  Fred  was  taught  to  read  the  Bible  it 
would  be  impossible  to  keep  him  a  slave.  The  words 
of  his  master  were  treasured  up  by  our  young  hero, 
who  resolved  at  all  hazards  to  get  learning,  and  with 
all  his  getting  to  "get  understanding." 

He  always  carried  a  Webster's  spelling  book  in  his 
pocket, and  induced  his  little  white  playmates  to  give 
him  instructions.  He  turned  bootblack,  and  earned 
fifty  cents  with  which  he  bought  a  "Columbian  Ora- 
tor,"and  read  with  such  avidity  he  might  be  said  to 
have  devoured  it. 

In  1834  Frederick's  master  hired  him  to  one  Covey, 
a  prominent  Methodist  in  the  same  county,  who  talked 
religion  on  Sunday  to  his  slaves,  and    prayed    before 
them  morning  and    evening;    but    his    treatment    of 
them  was  not  in  keeping  with  his  profession.     When 
he  had  been  there  but  a  few    days,  Covey    sent  him 
with  a  yoke  of  unruly  oxen  to  draw  in  wood  from  the 
fjrest.     This  would  have  been  a  difBcult  task  for    an 
experienced  ox  driver;  but  our  hero  had  never  driven 
oxen  before,  and  as  might  have  been  expected,  they 
became  unmanageable,  tangling  themselves  and    the 
cart,  until  it  was  hard  work  releasing  them;  however, 
this  was  finally  accomplished,   and  with  his   load    on 
he  started  to  the  house;  but  the  oxen  ran  away  even 
with  the  load  on  the  cart;breaking  the  gate  to  pieces, 
they  almost  crushed  the   driver   between    the    wheel 
and  the  gate-post.     He  did  not  reach  the  house  until 


338  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

late  noon,  but  Covey  at  once  ordered  him    back    for 
a  second  load;  and  following  after  saw  what  had  been 
done.      He  now  cut  three    black  gum  sprouts,    noted 
for  their  toughness,  from  four  to  six  feet  long;  tearing 
off  Frederick's  clothes, he  wore  them  out  on  his  bare 
back,  one  at  a  time,  and  his    coarse    shirt    kept  the 
sores  rubbed  and    open  for  weeks.       On  another  oc- 
casion during  a  hot  afternoon    in    August,  Frederick 
was  taken  deathly   sick  while  carrying  wheat  to  a  fan. 
Covey  saw  him   lying  on  the  ground,  and  with  a  brutal 
kick  in  the  side,    ordered  him   to   rise;    he    made    an 
effort  and  fell  back,  but  a  second  heavy  kick  brought 
him  to  his  feet,  only   to  fall    helpless   on    attempting 
to  pick  up  the  tub   of  wheat  and  chaff.      Upon  which 
Covey  struck  him   over  the  head  with  a  stick,  causing 
the  blood  to  gush   out,  saying,"!  will  cure  your  head- 
g^he."    His  victim  was  still  too  weak  to  rise,  and  was 
left  bleeding    in   a  fence  corner.      The   flow  of  blood 
relieved  his  dizziness,  and  he  determined  to    go  and 
complain   to  his  master;    seeking    a    moment   when 
Covey's  back  was  turned,  he  crept  into   the   woods, 
where, after  resting  a  while, he  made  his  way   almost 
exhausted  to  St.    Michaels,  and  reported  to    Captain 
Auld,  only  to  be  sent  back  the  next  day.   He  did  not 
present  himself  before  Covey  until  Sunday  morning, 
having  spent    Saturday   night    with    a    slave    named 
Sanday  and  his  wife,  who  gave  him  food  and  minis- 
tered to  his  wants.       Brother    Covey    received    him 
kindly,  for  it  was  the  Sabbath, and  the  good  man  (.?) 
was  just  starting  to  church. 

He  attempted  to  whip  Fred  once  more  after  this, 
but  the  worm  turned  on  him.  The  slave  had  noticed, 
"men  are  whipped  oftenest  who  are  whipped  easiest." 
He  determined  to  resist,  and  did  so  with  such  suc- 
cess that  he  drew  blood  from  Covey  without  losing  a 
drop  himself. 


LOUIS  B.  ANDERSON, 
Assistant  County  Attorney  Cook  County,  Illinois. 


340  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

He  never  attempted  to  whip  him  afterwards.  He 
was  a  slave  four  years  longer,  but  was  never  again 
whipped,  for  whenever  it  was  attempted  he  always 
gave  as  good  as  he  received,  sometimes  better. 

In  1835-6  he  was  hired  from  his  master  by  one  Mr. 
Freeland;  here  he  received  kind  treatment,  and  found 
a  way  to  open  a  Sunday-school.  He  also  determined 
to  preach  the  gospel,  and  after  all  had  retired  to  bed 
would  go  out  and  address  the  pigs  as  "Dear  Breth- 
ren." 

After  this,  he  was  sent  to  Baltimore  and  appren- 
ticed to  a  ship-builder.  From  here  he  escaped,  dis- 
guised as  a  sailor,  and  fled  to  New  York.  Here  he 
was  joined  by  his  sweetheart,  Anna  Murray  of  Balti- 
more, a  free  woman  of  color,  and  they  were  married. 
The  bride  and  groom  pushed  on  to  New  Bedford, 
where  he  hoped  to  get  work  at  his  trade,  that  of 
calking  ships. 

He  worked  in  New  Bedford  at  shoveling  coal, saw- 
ing wood,  digging  cellars,  or  any  other  odd  job  that 
came  to  hand,  until  he  finally  secured  work  at  calk- 
ing whalers  in  the  ship  yard. 

On  August  nth,  1841,  he  was  invited  for  the  first 
time  to  address  an  audience  of  white  people  in  a  con- 
vention at  Nantucket.  He  arose  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling,being  much  embarrassed, but  managed  to  stam- 
mer through  a  short  speech,  wherein  he  thanked  the 
champions  of  liberty  for  what  they  had  done  and 
were  doing  for  his  enslaved  race.  He  made  a  good 
impression,  however,  and  after  urgent  solicitation 
opened  the  convention  next  morning. 

Douglass  on  this  occasion  and  afterwards,  amused 
the  people  and  proved  that  he  had  been  a  slave,  by 
giving  the  following  extract  from  a  slave-holding 
minister's  sermon  to  an  audience  of  slaves  on  the 
text,  "Servants.obey  in  all    things  your   masters." — 


A  NEW  CENTURY  341 

"The  Lord  in  His  Providence  sent  pious  souls  over 
to  Africa — dark,  heathen,  benighted  Africa,  to  bring 
you  into  this  Christian  land,  where  you  can  sit  be- 
neath the  droppings  of  the  sanctuary  and  hear  about 
Jesus.  The  Lord  has  so  established  things  that  only 
through  the  channel  of  obedience  can  happiness  flow. 
For  instance— Sam,  the  other  day,  was  sent  out  by 
his  master  to  do  a  piece  of  work  that  would  occupy 
about  two  hours  and  a  half.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  time,  Sam's  master  went  out;  and,  lo  and  be- 
hold! there  lay  Sam's  hoe  in  one  place,  and  Sam  in 
another,  fast  asleep.  The  master  remembered  the 
v^ords  of  scripture:  'He  that  knoweth  his  master's 
will  and  doeth  it  not  shall  be  beaten  with  many 
stripes!'  So  Sam  was  taken  up  and  whipped,  so  that 
he  was  disabled  from  doing  any  work  for  the  space 
of  three  weeks  and  a  half.  For  only  through  the 
channel  of  obedience  can  happiness  flow." 

It  was  after  he  had  spoken  at  Oakland,  Ohio,  that 
one  Irishman  remarked  to  another:  "And  what  do 
you  think  of  that  for  a  Naygur?" 

"Be  aisy,"  was  the  answer,  "he's  only  half  a  Nay- 
gur." 

"And  if  half  a  Naygur  can  speak  like  that,  what 
could  a  whole  one  do?" 

His  companions  soon  learned  it  was  wise  to  have 
Douglass  the  last  speaker  on  the  program,  if  they 
wanted  to  hold  their  audience  to  the  end. 

At  Grafton,  Massachusetts,  he  advertised  his  own 
meeting  by  ringing  a  bell  through  the  streets  and 
crying,  "Notice!  Frederick  Douglass, recently  a  slave, 
will  lecture  on  American  slavery, on  Grafton  Common, 
this  evening  at  seven  o'clock."  He  was  greeted  by 
a  great  audience,  and  offered  the  largest  church  in 
town  for  his  other  meetings. 

His  matchless  eloquence  was  the  "Open  Sesame" 
which  secured  this  favor. 


342  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Having  written  the  true  "Narrative  of  the  Life  oi 
Frederick  Douglass,"  he  thought  it  discreet  to  put 
the  ocean  between  him  and  his  enraged  master  for  a 
season.  Accordingly  he  embarked  for  Liverpool 
Aug.  i6,  1845. 

His  book  was  eagerly  read  on  board,  and  an  in- 
vitation extended  to  its  author  to  deliver  an  address 
upon  the  saloon-deck.  This  he  attempted  to  do; 
but  a  number  of  Southern  slave-holders  on  board  in- 
terrupted him  by  giving  the  lie  to  everything  he  said 
and  shaking  their  fists  under  his  nose.  The  captain 
was  at  last  forced  to  clear  the  deck,  and  even  threat- 
ened to  put  the  leader  of  the  mob  in  irons.  An  ac- 
count of  this  suppression  of  free  speech  on  the  high 
sea  was  published  in  the  English  papers  and  gave  the 
black  orator  an  immense  amount  of  free  advertising; 
so  that  his  lecturing  tour  through  Ireland,  Scotland 
and  England  was  almost  an  ovation.  While  in  Ire- 
land, Father  Mathew  gave  him  a  soiree,  and  admin- 
istered to  him  the  temperance  pledge.  In  making  a 
speech  in  St.  Patrick's  Temperance  Hall,  Douglass 
said  of  those  who  spoke  of  the  Irish  as  slaves,  that 
"they  do  not  sufficiently  distinguish  between  certain 
forms  of  oppression,  and  slavery.  Slavery  is  not 
what  takes  away  any  one  right  or  property  in  man;  it 
takes  away  man  himself,  and  makes  him  the  property 
of  his  fellow.  It  is  what  unmans  man,  takes  him  from 
himself,  dooms  him  as  a  degraded  thing,  ranks  him 
with  the  bridled  horse  and  muzzled  ox,  makes  him  a 
chattel,  a  marketable  commodity,  to  be  swayed  by 
the  caprice,  and  sold  at  the   will  of  his  master." 

At  Belfast,  Jan.  6,  1846,  the  local  branch  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Anti-Slavery  Society  presented 
him  with  a  Bible  splendidly  bound  in  gold.  He  re- 
marked on  receiving  it,  "I  accept  thankfully  this 
Bible;  and  while  it  shall  have  the  best  place    in    my 


A  NEW  CENTURY  343 

house,  I  trust  also  to  give  its  precepts  a  place  in  my 
heart." 

While  in  London  he  was  lionized  because  of  his 
oratorical  gifts. 

He  took  breakfast  with  Sir  John  Bowring,  and 
met  Lord  Brougham  and  Douglas  Jerrold. 

A  young  man  from  one  of  our  Southern  states  was 
being  entertained  by  an  English  gentleman,  who  said, 
"I  want  particularly  to  have  you  look  at  my  bust  of 
your  countryman,  Mr.  Douglass."  "With  the  utmost 
pleasure,"  he  answered.  "Senator  Douglass  is  one 
of  our  most  distinguished  men."  What  was  his 
amazement  when  he  discovered  that  the  bust  was  of 
our  hero  and  in  black  marble! 

While  he  was  in  England  Mrs.  Ellen  Richardson 
collected  money  and  bought  Douglass'  freedom  from 
Hugh  Auld,  and  his  papers  were  presented  to  him  on 
his  return  to  America;  but  he  told  his  English  friends 
in  his  parting  address,  that  he  had  just  as  much  right 
to  sell  Hugh  Auld  as  Auld  had  to  sell  him;  and  said 
he,  "If  any  of  you  are  disposed  to  make  a  purchase 
to-night  just  say  the  word." 

Mr.  Douglass  began  to  publish  the  "North  Star," 
at  Rochester,  New  York,  Dec.  3,  1847.  It  was  ag- 
gressive and  ably  edited  from  the  first.  But  in  order 
to  avoid  confusion,  he  changed  its  name  with  the 
fourth  volume  to  "Frederick  Douglass'  Paper." 
"For,"  said  he,  "there  were  I  know  not  how  many 
stars  in  the  newspaper  firmament."  He  furnished 
each  member  of  Congress  a  copy  of  his  paper,  with 
good  results.  In  1858  he  started  a  magazine  called 
"Douglass'  Monthly,"  mainly  for  circulating  in  Eng- 
land. The  weekly  paper  was  merged  in  the  "Monthly" 
in  August,  i860. 

On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Douglass  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter:  "I  have  been  informed  that    you    had 


344  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

an  only  aaughter,  and  that  you  desire  her  to  marry  a 
whight  man;  whereupon  you  give  $15,000  or  $20,000 
dollars  to  any  respectable  whight  man  that  would 
marry  her  and  cherish  her  through  life.  If  there  is 
any  truth  in  this  report,  P.  S.  let  me  know  and 
I  will  marry  your  daughter  on  these  conditions,  and 
will  endeavor  to  make  myself  agreeable." 

To  which  Douglass  in  replying  remarked,  that  as 
a  total  stranger  his  correspondent  should  have  given 
at  least  one  reference,  and  then  continued:  "You 
date*from  Auburn,  and  tell  me  to  direct  to  Auburn, 
but  do  not  name  the  street.  Pardon  me  for  regard- 
ing this  as  a  suspicious  circumstance.  You  may  be  an 
inmate  of  the  State  Prison,  or  on  your  way  there;  a 
fact  which  you  see  would  interfere  with  the  fulfill- 
ment of  your  part  of  the  proposed  bargain,  even  if  I 
could  fulfill  the  part  you  assign  to  me.  You  want 
$15,000  or  $20,000;  this  is  a  common  want,  and  you 
are  not  to  blame  for  using  all  honorable  means  to 
obtain  it.  But  candor  requires  me  to  state,  that  if 
you  were  in  every  respect  a  suitable  person  to  be 
bought  for  the  purpose  you  name,  I  have  not  the 
money  to  buy  you.  I  have  no  objection  to  your  com- 
plexion; but  there  are  certain  little  faults  of  gram- 
mar and  spelling,  as  well  as  other  little  points  in  your 
letter,  which  compel  me  to  regard  you  as  a  person 
by  education,  manners,  and  morals,  wholly  unfit  to 
associate  with  my  daughter  in  any  capacity  whatever. 
You  evidently  think  your  white  skin  of  great  value; 
I  don't  dispute  it;  it  is  probably  the  best  thing  about 
you;  yet  not  even  that  valuable  quality  can  commend 
you  sufficiently  to  induce  even  so  black  a  Negro  as 
myself  to  accept  you  as  his  son-in-law." 

Can  any  fair-minded  man  read  the  foregoing  letter 
and  still  insist  that  the  Negro  is  an  inferior  race.-* 

When  the  war  came  on,  Douglass  did  all  he  could 


A  NEW  CENTURY  345 

with  tongue  and  pen,  to  have  the  Negroes  enlisted 
to  help  fight  for  their  own  freedom;  two  of  his  sons, 
Charles,  and  Lewis  H.,  afterwards  Sergeant-Major, 
enlisted.  Mr.  Douglass  afterward  called  on  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  in  the  interest  of  fair  treatment  to 
Negro  soldiers.  The  following  extract  is  from  a 
speech  delivered  in  Philadelphia,  Dec.  4,  1863: 
"When  I  went  in,  the  President  was  sitting  in  his 
usual  position,  I  was  told,  with  his  feet  in  different 
parts  of  the  room,  taking  it  easy.  As  I  came  in  and 
approached  him  the  President  began  to  rise,  and  he 
continued  rising,  until  he  stood  over  me;  and  reach- 
ing out  his  hand, he  said,  'Mr.  Douglass,  I  know  you; 
I  have  read  about  you  and  Mr.  Seward  has  told  me 
about  you;'  putting  me  quite  at  ease  at  once.  He 
told  me  that  I  had  made  a  speech  somewhere  in  New 
York  and  it  had  got  into  the  papers,  and  among  other 
things  I  had  said  that  if  I  were  called  upon  to  state 
what  I  regarded  as  the  most  disheartening  feature  of 
our  present  military  situation,  it  would  not  be  the 
various  disasters  experienced  by  our  armies  and 
navies,  on  flood  and  field,  but  it  would  be  the  tardy, 
hesitating,  vacillating  policy  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  And  the  President  said  to  me,  'Mr. 
Douglass,  I  have  been  charged  with  being  tardy, and 
vacillating,  but  I  do  not  think  that  charge  can  be  sus- 
tained; I  think  it  cannot  be  shown  that  when  1  have 
once  taken  a  position  I  have  ever  retreated  from  it.' 
"I  told  him  that  he  had  been  somewhat  slow  in  pro- 
claiming equal  protection  to  our  colored  soldiers  and 
prisoners;  and  he  said  the  country  needed  talking  up 
to  that  point.  He  hesitated  in  regard  to  it,  when  he 
felt  the  country  was  not  ready  for  it.  He  knew  that 
the  colored  man  was  a  despised  man,  and  that  if  he 
at  first  came  out  with  such  a  proclamation,  all  the 
hatred  which  is  poured  on  the  head  of  the  Negro  race 


346  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

would  be  visited  on  his  administration.  He  said  that 
there  was  preparatory  work  needed,  and  that  this 
work  had  now  been  done.  And  continued,  'Remem- 
ber this,  Mr.  Douglass:  Milliken's  Bend,  Port  Hud- 
son, and  Fort  Wagner  are  recent  events;  and  these 
were  necessary  to  prepare  the  way  for  this  very  proc- 
lamation of  mine.'  I  thought  it  was  reasonabl2,but 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  while  Abraham  Lincoln 
will  not  go  down  to  posterity  as  Abraham  the  Great, 
or  as  Abraham  the  Wise,  or  as  Abraham  the  Elo- 
quent, although  he  is  all  three — wise,  great,  and 
eloquent,  he  will  go  down  to  posterity,  if  the  country 
is  saved,  as  Honest  Abraham;  and  going  down  thus, 
his  name  may  be  written  anywhere  in  this  wide  world 
of  ours  side  by  side  with  that  of  Washington  without 
disparaging  the  latter." 

I  think  one  of  the  best  things  Douglass  ever  said 
was  in  a  jubilee  meeting  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston, 
just  after  Richmond  was  taken.  Said  he:  "I  tell  you 
the  Negro  is  coming  up.  He  is  rising.  Why,  only 
a  little  while  ago,  we  were  the  Lazarus  of  the  South; 
the  Dives  of  the  South  was  the  slave-holder.  But 
now  a  change  has  taken  place.  That  rich  man  is  lift- 
ing up  his  eyes  in  torments  down  there,  and  seeing 
Lazarus  in  Abraham's  bosom;  and  he  is  all  the  time 
calling  on  Father  Abraham  to  send  Lazarus  back. 
But  Father  Abraham  says,  'If  they  hear  not  Grant 
and  Sherman,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though 
I  send  Lazarus  unto  them. '  I  say,  we  are  way  up 
yonder  now,  no  mistake." 

The  war  over,  Mr.  Douglass  continued  to  support 
the  Republican  party,  and  was  appointed  by  Presi- 
dent Hayes  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  He 
presided  over  the  colored  people's  convention  at 
Louisville,  July,  1880.  In  May,  t  881, he  was  appointed 
Recorder    of    Deeds   for    the    District  of   Columbia. 


HON.  W.   L.   MARTIN, 

Graduate  of  Oherlin  College,  a  Member  of  the  Chicago  Bar, 

and  Member  of  the  Illmois  State  Legislature 


348  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

When  Harrison  was  elected  President  he  appointed 
him  Minister  to  Hayti.  And  at  the  World's  Fair 
Mr.  Douglass  had  general  charge  of  the  exhibit  from 
that  Republic. 

Fred  Douglass  is  unquestionably  America's  great- 
est colored  man,  and  will  go  down  in  history  as  one 
of  her  greatest  orators.  A  gentleman  who  heard  his 
great  oration  on  Lincoln  at  the  Rochester  Court- 
bouse,  said:  "I  have  heard  Webster  and  Clay  in  their 
best  moments,  Channing  and  Beecher  in  their  high- 
est inspirations;  I  never  heard  truer  eloquence.  I 
never  saw  profounder  impression." 

Colonel  F.  W.Higginson  said  of  Douglass:  "I  have 
hardly  heard  his  equal  in  grasp  upon  an  audience, 
in  dramatic  presentation,  in  striking  at  the  pith  of  an 
ethical  question  and  in  single  illustrations  and 
images." 

Most  of  Frederick  Douglass'  public  life  was  spent 
at  a  period  which  tried  men's  souls  and  tended  to 
produce  great  orators;  but  he  showed  that  he  was 
more  than  an  orator;  he  was  a  statesman  of  sound 
judgment,  and  was  almost  invariably  right.  Gar- 
rison claimed  that  the  constitution  was  pro-slavery, 
and  even  favored  secession  and  disunion  as  a  means 
c.f  putting  down  slavery.  But  Douglass  maintained 
that  the  constitution,  if  rightly  interpreted,  was  em- 
phatically anti-slavery.  And  he  rightly  favored  fight- 
ing for  emancipation  under  the  constitution  and  the 
stars  and  stripes.  He  also  favored  arming  the  strong 
black  hand  as  well  as  the  white,  and  this  was  the 
very  policy  which  proved  a  success. 

n.  ToussAiNT  L'Ouverture: — Thesubject  of  this 
sketch  was  born  about  the  year  1745,  on  what  was 
called  the  Breda  estate,  near  the  town  of  Cape  Hay- 
tien,  Hayti.  His  full  name  was  Francois  Dominique 
Toussaint.     He  earned  the  surname  L'Ouverture  be- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  349 

cause  of  his  great  prowess  in  battle.  An  admiring 
Frenchman  said  of  him,"Cet  homme  fait  I'ouverture"-- 
"This  man  makes  an  opening  everywere."  After  this 
his  soldiers  called  him  L'Ouverture,  "the  opening." 

Toussaint  showed  such  marked  intelligence,  and 
purity  of  conduct,  as  to  give  him  great  influence  over 
his  fellow  slaves,  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
manager  of  the  plantation,  M.  Bayou  de  Libertas, 
who  taught  him  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 
This  was  a  great  accomplishment,  when  we  consider 
that  only  one  slave  in  ten  thousand  possessed  these 
elements  of  knowledge.  His  master  also  made  him 
postilion,  a  position  which  gave  him  advantage  over 
the  plantation  hands. 

When  the  insurrection  took  place  in  179 1  Toussaint 
was  urged  to  join  them,  but  he  declined  until  he  had 
aided  his  benefactor  M.  Bayou,  and  his  family  on 
board  a  ship  to  escape  to  Baltimore. 

St.  Domingo  was  a  bone  of  contention  between 
the  Spanish  and  French.  Finding  the  latter  weak- 
ened by  being  divided  into  opposing  factions  of  Re- 
publicans and  Bourbon  Loyalists,  the  Spanish  deter- 
mined to  seize  the  whole  island.  In  their  extremity 
the  French  invited  the  English  of  Jamaica  to  come 
to  their  rehef.  At  first  the  Governor  of  Jamaica  sent 
them  a  few  hundred  soldiers;  afterwards,  the  English 
government  sent  General  Maitland,  who  landed  with 
four  thousand  troops  and  gained  great  success. 

The  French  Governor  now  saw  he  had  as  much 
to  fear  from  his  EngHsh  allies  as  his  Spanish  foes, 
for  England  had  determined  to  seize  the  island  for 
her  own. 

In  his  extremity,  the  Governor  thought  of  the  niu- 
lattoes  who  had  assisted  him  in  putting  down  an  in- 
surrection of  the  whites  five  years  before.  But  he  had 
torfeited  his   solemn  oath  to  grant    them    civil    priv- 


350  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ileges,  and  they  would  not  be  deceived  a  second  time. 

He  now  thought  of  the  enslaved  blacks,  and  sent 
a  deputation  to  Toussaint,  who  even  then  had  great 
influence  with  his  people.  But  he  was  a  diplomatist, 
and  asked  the  envoys, "Where  are  your  credentials?" 

"We  have  none,"  was  the  answer.  "Then,"  said 
he,  "I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  you."  The  en- 
voys next  went  to  Francois  and  Biassou,  two  other 
slave  leaders  of  considerable  influence,  and  said,  "Arm, 
assist  the  government  to  put  down  the  Spanish  on 
one  side,  the  English  on  the  other." 

Having  been  previously  advised  by  Toussaint,  who, 
like  Cromwell,  preferred  not  to  be  in  the  lead  at  first, 
they  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  fifteen  thou- 
sand blacks,  who  had  been  supplied  with  arms  from 
the  government  arsenal.      This  was  in  August,   1791. 

With  the  help  of  this  army  of  blacks,  Blanchelande 
gained  the  ascendency  over  the  combined  Spanish 
and  English,  and  was  reinstated  as  Governor.  Hav- 
ing accomplished  this,  the  black  leaders,  speaking  for 
their  people,  said  to  the  Governor  they  had  created, 
"Now  grant  us  gradual  emancipation,  give  us  one 
day  in  seven;  give  us  one  day's  labor;  we  will  buy 
another  and  with  the  two  buy  a  third,  and  so  even- 
tually be  free."  Surely  this  was  a  very  mild  request, 
coming  from  men  who  had  saved  his  government  from 
overthrow.  But  the  same  Blanchelande,  who  was 
false  to  his  mulatto  benefactors,  proved  doubly  false 
to  his  black  allies.  He  sneeringly  replied,  "Disarm! 
Disperse !"  But  they  stood  their  ground,  and  replied, 
"The  right  hand  that  has  saved  you,  the  right  hand 
that  has  saved  the  island  for  the  Bourbons,  may  per- 
chance clutch  some  of  our  own  rights."  Thus  began 
the  insurrection.  The  Blacks  refused  to  disband  or 
lay  down  their  arms,  as  they  had  been  mortified  by 
two  insults.     First,  their  commissioners  sent  to  meet 


A  NEW  CENTURY  351 

the  French  Committee  were  ignominiously  dismissed; 
after  this  Francois, their  general,  being  summoned  to 
a  second  conference,  went  to  it  on  horseback,  at- 
tended by  two  officers.  Here  he  met  a  young  French 
lieutenant,  who  had  known  him  as  a  slave,  who  see- 
ing him  in  the  uniform  of  an  officer,  became  enraged 
and  struck  him  a  heavy  blow  with  his  riding-whip^ 
across  the  shoulders.  The  Negro  troops  did  not  hear 
of  the  insult  to  their  commander  for  twenty-four 
hours.  When  they  did,  the  cry  was  heard,  "Death 
to  every  white  man!"  They  soon  had  fifteen  hundred 
white  prisoners  ranged  in  front  of  the  camp,  intend- 
ing to  shoot  them.  Just  at  this  critical  time,  Tous- 
saint  reached  the  camp,  having  been  offered  the 
position  as  second  in  command.  Mounting  a  hill  in 
front  of  the  army,  he  gained  their  attention  and  said 
in  a  loud  voice  heard  by  all:  "Brothers,  this  blood 
will  not  wipe  out  the  insult  to  our  chief;  only  the 
blood  in  yonder  French  camp  can  wipe  it  out.  To 
shed  that  is  courage;  to  shed  this  is  cowardice,  and 
cruelty  besides."  They  heard  his  words  and  the  lives 
of  fifteen  hundred  men  were  saved.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  became  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
black  army,  and  in  seven  years'  time  accomplished 
the  following  results: 

He  conquered  the  Spanish,  even  in  their  own  cities, 
over  which  he  caused  the  French  banner  to  wave;  he 
fought  pitched  battles  with  the  English  general,  Mait- 
land,  whom  he  defeated,  with  great  slaughter,  but 
afterwards  he  permitted  him  to  retreat  with  the  rem- 
nant of  his  army  to  Jamaica;  he  subdued  the  mulat- 
toes  to  his  sway,  and  when  the  French  army  turned 
on  their  general,  Loveaux,  and  put  him  in  chains, 
Toussaint  defeated  them,  rescued  Loveaux  from 
prison  and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  his  army.  The 
French, in  their  gratitude,now  named  him  General-in- 


352  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Chief  of  the  armies  of  St.  Domingo.  From  this  to  the 
position  of  governor  of  the  island  was  for  Toussaint 
but  a  short  step. 

Under  his  government  the  island  continued  happy 
and  prosperous. 

In  the  year  1800  he  appointed  a  committee  of  nine 
to  draft  a  constitution  for  him.  Out  of  this  number 
there  were  eight  white  proprietors,  and  one  mulatto, 
not  a  single  Negro  or  soldier  in  the  number.  With 
the  instinct  of  a  true  statesman  he  said  to  this  com- 
mittee: "Put  at  the  head  of  the  chapter  of  commerce 
that  the  ports  of  St.  Domingo  are  open  to  the  trade 
of  the  world."  Catholic  as  he  was,  he  tock  his  place 
beside  Roger  Williams  in  securing  to  all,  religious 
liberty,  for  he  said  to  the  committee:  "Make  it  the 
first  line  of  my  constitution  that  I  know  no  difference 
between  religious  beliefs." 

This  constitution  worked  admirably  during  the 
time  it  was  tried,  even  if  it  did  make  Toussaint  Pres- 
ident for  life  with  the  power  to  choose  his  successor. 
The  commerce  of  the  world  visited  St.  Domingo,  her 
coffers  were  filled,  and  her  plantations,  worked  by 
free  labor,  blossomed  like  the  rose. 

The  same  year  in  which  the  constitution  was 
drafted,  Toussaint  made  the  following  proclamation: 
"Sons  of  St.  Domingo, come  home;  we  never  meant 
to  take  your  houses  and  your  lands.  The  Negro  only 
asked  that  liberty  which  God  gave  him.  Your  houses 
wait  for  you,  your  lands  are  ready."  And  the  exiled 
planters  returned  from  Baltimore  and  New  Orleans, 
irom  Madrid  and  Paris, and  lived  contentedly  on  their 
estates,  protected  by  the  pledged  word  of  this  black 
ruler,  which  was  never  broken.  Then  turning  to  his 
armies — in  their  rags  and  poverty,  he  said:  "Go  back 
and  work  on  these  estates  you  have  conquered;  for 
an  empire  can  be  founded  only  on  order  and  industry, 
and  you  can  learn  thase  virtues  nnlv  there/' 


A  NEW  CENTURY  353 

Within  a   week   his    army    was    transformed    into 

laborers. 

Thus  did  Toussaint  establish  what  bid    fair  to    be 

the  best  governed  republic  on  earth.  But  this  very 
fact  was  an  eyesore  to  Napoleon  Bonaparte, who  was 
about  to  seize  the  crown  of  France.  Moreover,  Tous- 
saint had  written  Napoleon  a  letter  in  which  occured 
this  language,  "The  first  of  the  blacks,  to  the  first  of 
the  whites."  And  when  the  satirists  of  Paris  spoke 
of  Toussaint  as  the  "Black  Napoleon,''  it  enraged 
Bonaparte  more  than  the  defeat  of  his  army  by  this 
Negro  chieftain. 

So  Napoleon  called  a  council  and  asked,  "What 
shall  I  do  with  St.  Domingo.?"  The  slave-holders 
present  said,  "Give  it  to  us."  But  a  letter  was  read 
Uom  Colonel  Vincent,  formerly  private  secretary  to 
Toussaint,  and  his  answer  was:  "Sire,  leave  it  alone; 
It  is  the  happiest  spot  in  your  dominions;  God  raised 
this  man  to  govern,  races  melt  under  his  hand.  He 
has  saved  you  this  island;  for  I  know  of  my  own 
knowledge  that,  when  the  Republic  could  not  have 
lifted  a  finger  to  prevent  it,  George  III.  offered  him 
any  title  and  any  revenue  if  he  would  hold  the  island 
under  the  British  crown.  He  refused  and  saved  it 
for  France."  But  Napoleon  had  already  decided 
what  to  do  before  calling  the  council.  He  had  sixty 
thousand  idle  republican  soldiers,  and  he  dare  not 
seize  the  crown  until  they  were  sent  to  a  distant  realm, 
or  the  ocean  rolled  between  him  and  them.  Accord- 
ingly in  an  evil  hour  he  put  thirty  thousand  of  them 
under  the  command  of  his  brother-in-law,  Leclerc,and 
sent  them  to  Hayti,  with  instructions  to  overthrow 
the  Republic,  bring  Toussaint  a  prisoner  to  France, 
and  re-establish  slavery  on  the  island. 

Toussaint, in  company  with  his  friend  Christopher, 
rode  on  horseback  to  the  eastern   extremity   of   the 


354  ^  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

island,  where  from  a  high  promontory  he  saw  the  ap- 
proaching fleet. 

Counting  the  ships, he  found  they  numbered  sixty, 
each  crowded  with  the  best  drilled,  best  armed  soldiers 
in  all  Europe.  He  then  exclaimed  to  Christopher: 
''All  France  has  come  to  Hayti;  they  can  only  come 
to  make  us  slaves;  and  we  are  lost!"  He  now  de- 
plored his  misplaced  confidence  in  Napoleon  which 
caused  him  to  disband  his  army.  But  he  resolved  to 
give  the  invaders  a  warm  reception  and  sell  his  liberty 
and  that  of  his  people  as  dearly  as  possible.  Ac- 
cordingly he  issued  the  following  proclamation: 

"My  children,  France  comes  to  make  us  slaves; 
God  gave  us  liberty;  France  has  no  right  to  take  it 
away.  Burn  the  cities,  destroy  the  harvests,  poison 
the  wells,  show  the  white  man  the  hell  he  comes  to 
make;"  and  they  obeyed  him. 

Marching  into  battle  singing  the  Marseillaise  Hymn, 
the  Negro  soldiers  under  such  a  leader  were  invin- 
cible, and  at  first  routed  the  invading  army  in  every 
encounter. 

Defeated  in  battle,  Leclerc  resorted  to  lying,  and 
issued  this  proclamation: 

"We  do  not  com.e  to  make  you  slaves;  this  man 
Toussaint  tells  you  lies;  join  us  and  you  shall  have 
the  rights  you  claim."  Deceived  by  these  lying 
promises,  all  the  officers  laid  down  their  arms  except 
Pierre,  Toussaint's  brother,  Christopher  and  Dessal- 
ines;  finally  these,  too,  went  over  to  the  enemy,  and 
the  great  leader  was  left  alone,  with  a  remnant  of  his 
army.  He  now  sent  the  following  message  to  Le- 
clerc. "I  will  submit.  I  could  continue  the  strug- 
gle for  years, — could  prevent  a  single  Frenchman 
from  safely  quitting  yoLr  camp.  But  I  hate  blood. 
I  have  fought  only  for  the  liberty  gf  my  race. 
Guarantee  that,  I  will  submit  and  come  in."  He  took 


A  NEW  CENTURY  355 

the  oath  to  be  a  true  citizen,  and  the  French  general 
swore  on  the  same  crucifix,  that  the  island  should  be 
free,  and  that  Toussaint  should  be  faithfully  pro- 
tected. But  the  white  man  never  intended  to  keep 
that  sacred  oath,  as  all  the  circumstances  show.  Le- 
clerc  was  struck  by  the  contrast  between  his  own 
splendidly  equipped  soldiers  and  the  ragged  followers 
of  the  black  commander,  whose  arms  were  in  keeping 
with  their  clothes,  and  he  said  to  him,**L'Ouverture, 
had  you  continued  the  war,  where  could  you  have 
got  arms?"  "I  would  have  taken  yours,"  was  the 
Spartan-like  answer. 

The  story  is  soon  told.  Relying  upon  the  pledges  of 
Leclerc,  Toussaint,  who  never  broke  his  word  to 
friend  or  foe,  retired  to  his  plantation,  only  to  be 
treacherously  seized  in  the  night,  and  conveyed  on 
board  a  man  of  war.bound  for  France.  As  he  caught 
the  last  glimpse  of  his  beloved  Hayti,he  remarked  to 
the  captain,  "You  think  you  have  rooted  up  the  tree 
of  liberty,  but  I  am  only  a  branch;  I  have  planted 
the  tree  so  deep  that  all  France  can  never  root  it 
up." 

He  was  taken  to  Paris,  and  incarcerated  in  prison. 
Here  the  great  (?)  Napoleon  sent  Caffarelli,  one  of 
his  secretaries,  to  interrogate  him  concerning  supposed 
buried  treasures.  After  listening  a  few  minutes  he 
answers,  "Young  man,  it  is  true  I  have  lost  treasures, 
but  they  are  not  such  as  you  come  to  seek." 

Toussaint  was  now  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  the  Chat- 
eaux de  Joux  and  confined  in  a  stone  dungeon  twelve 
by  twelve  feet,  with  a  single  narrow  window,  looking 
out  on  Switzerland's  mountains  of  snow.  It  is  said 
that  ice  covered  the  floor  in  winter,  and  dampness  in 
summer.  From  this  dungeon  tomb  he  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  Napoleon: — "Sire,  I  am  a  French 
citizen.     I  never  broke  a  law.     By  the  grace  of  God, 


356  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

I  have  saved  for  you  the  best  island  of    your    realm. 
Sire,  of  your  mercy  grant  me  justice." 

This  letter  was  never  answered.  And  when  Na- 
poleon learned  that  five  francs  a  day  were  allowed 
him  for  food  and  fuel,  he  cut  it  down  to  three.  Still 
the  iron  constitution  did  not  yield  to  slow  assassina- 
tion fast  enough,  and  the  jailer  was  ordered  to  go 
into  Switzerland  with  the  keys  of  the  dungeon,  and 
remained  four  days.  When  he  returned  the  Black 
Prince  was  dead. 

This  sad  event  was  in  April  of  1803,  and  when  it 
became  known  raised  a  cry  of  horror,  and  indignation 
against  Napoleon,  who  would  thus  destroy  in  this  bar- 
barous manner  one  of  the  noblest  and  bravest  of  the 
African  race.  But  God  is  just,  and  twelve  years 
afterward  the  imperial  assassin  was  a  closely  guarded 
prisoner  on  the  rocky  island  of  St.  Helena,  whining 
his  life  avv'ay,  saying  "he  did  not  live,  he  simply  ex- 
isted." 

In  a  few  years  he  died  of  disappointment  and  a 
broken  heart;  and  nothing  he  accomplished  while 
living  exists.  Even  the  monarchy  for  which  he  fought 
so  many  battles,  has  been  superseded  by  a  republic. 

Contrast  this  with  the  fact, that  while  no  monument 
marks  the  resting  place  of  Toussaint,  thus  cruelly  mur- 
dered, still  the  republic  he  founded  exists  to-day  as 
a  memorial  of  his  valor  and  statesmanship. 

It  is  significant,  too,  that  the  last  claimant  of  the 
Bonaparte  dynasty,  Prince  Napoleon,  was  killed  by 
the  Zulus  in  Africa,  the  very  people  from  which 
Toussaint  sprang,  the  blood  of  whose  kings  flowed  in 
his  veins. 

"Though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  yet  they 
grind  exceeding  small.  Though  with  patience  he 
stands  waiting, wiih  exactness  grinds  he  all." 

III.   Phillis  Wheatley: — This  remarkable  colored 


A  NEW  CENTURY  357 

girl  was  brought,  in  1 761.  on  a  slave  ship  from 
Africa  to  the  Boston  slave  market,  and  purchased  by 
Mrs.  John  Wheatley.a  benevolent  and  cultured  lady. 
When  bought  she  was  naked  except  a  piece  of  dirty 
carpet  around  her  loins.  She  was  thin  and  sick  from 
a  rough,  tedious  sea  voyage,  for  her  constitution  was 
delicate  at  best.  Impressed  by  her  intelligent  coun- 
tenance and  modest  demeanor,  she  was  selected  from 
a  large  number  of  slaves. 

It  was  the  intention  at  first  to  teach  her  the  duties 
of  a  house  servant;  but  clean  clotning  and  good  food 
wrought  such  a  change  for  the  better,  that  her  mis- 
tress decided  to  instruct  her  in  letters.  She  was  only 
eight  years  old  and  proved  a  very  apt  pupil;  in  less 
than  a  year  and  a  half  she  had  mastered  the  English 
language  sufficiently  well  to  read  the  most  difficult 
portions  of  the  Bible.  She  also  mastered  writing  with 
equal  ease,  and  in  four  years  from  the  time  she  was 
taken  out  of  the  slave  market  could  carry  on  an  in- 
teresting correspondence  upon  many  topics.  Her 
amiable  disposition  and  budding  intellect  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  refined  and  cultured  of  Boston, 
who  gave  her  encouragement  by  lending  her  books 
and  conversing  with  her  upon  literary  subjects. 
Having  acquired  a  fairly  good  English  education, 
she  began  the  study  of  Latin,  and  soon  became  so 
proficient  that  she  made  an  admirable  translation  of 
one  of  Ovid's  tales,  which  was  published  in  Boston 
and  republished  in  England,  where  it  was  heartily 
commended  by  many  of  the  reviews. 

When  asked  what  she  remembered  about  her  home 
in  Africa  she  replied,  "Nothing  except  the  fact  that 
every  morning  my  mother  poured  out  water  before 
the  rising  sun."  She  could  not  help  but  contrast 
this  with'' the  worship  of  the  true  and  only  living  God, 
andthis  child  of  Africa  became  deeply  pious.  In  1770. 


358  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

at  the  age  of  sixteen,  she  was  happily  converted  and 
united  with  the  congregation  at  the  "Old  South  Meet- 
inghouse." Four  years  afterwards,  her  master  man- 
umitted her.  But  the  New  England  climate  was  too 
severe  for  one  of  her  studious  and  sedentary  habits, 
with  delicate  constitution,  and  she  began  to  go  into 
a  decline.  At  the  suggestion  of  eminent  physicians, 
her  adopted  mother,  for  such  she  proved  herself  to 
be,  sent  her  on  a  voyage  to  England,  in  care  of  her 
son, who  wasgoing  on  business.  Some  years  previous 
to  this  Phillis  had  developed  a  great  talent  for  poetry, 
which  she  had  cultivated  to  the  utmost.  Indeed  her 
reputation  was  well  established,  and  had  preceded 
her  to  England.  Her  rare  conversational  powers 
and  charming  demeanor  took  London  by  stcrm. 

Soon  the  nobility,  thoughtful  people,  and  press, 
united  in  extolling  the  name  of  Phillis  Wheatley,  the 
African  poetess. 

Her  poems  were  first  published  in  Boston  in  1770. 
But  her  admiring  friends  prevailed  upon  her  to  bring 
out  a  second  and  better  edition  in  London  in  1773. 
This  was  a  small  octavo  volum.e  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  pages,  comprising  thirty-nine  pieces. 
It  was  dedicated  to  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon, and 
contained  a  picture  of  the  poetess,  and  a  letter  of 
recommendation  signed  by  the  governor  and  lieuten- 
ant-governor of  Massachusetts,  with  many  other  re- 
liable citizens  of  Boston,  including  her  master;  estab- 
Hshing  the  fact  that  all  the  poems  contained  in  the 
book  were  written  by  Phillis.  For  the  poems  were 
so  excellent,  strangers  were  disposed  to  question  their 
originality. 

During  Phillis'  stay  in  England,  Mrs.  Wheatley 
grieved  herself  sick  about  her  adopted  dar^ghter.  She 
would  talk  to  her  picture  by  the  hour,  and  pointing 
it  out  to  friends,  exclaim   with   all   a  mother's  pride: 


A  NEW  CENTURY  359 

"See!  Look  at  my  Phillis!  Does  she  not  seem  as 
though  she  would  speak  to  me?" 

When  she  could  endure  the  separation  no  longer, 
she  sent  an  urgent  request  to  Phillis  to  return  at  once 
to  Boston.  This  she  hastened  to  do  and  found  her 
kind  benefactor  at  death's  door.  She  was  only  able 
to  comfort  her  for  a  short  time  before  the  end  came. 

Mr.  Wheatley  and  his  daughter  soon  followed  her 
to  the  grave. 

Young  Mr.  Wheatley  made  his  hom.e  in  England; 
so  Phillis  was  alone  in  the  "wide,  wide  world." 

The  historian  Sparks  informs  us  that  "she  soon 
after  received  an  offer  of  marriage  from  a  respectable 
colored  man  of  Boston,  named  John  Peters. 

"In  an  evil  hour,  he  was  accepted;  and  though  he 
was  a  man  of  talents  and  information,  he  proved 
utterly  unworthy  of  the  distinguished  woman  who 
honored  him  with  her  alliance." 

Her  married  life  was  brief  and  unhappy.  One  babe 
gladdened  her  heart,  only  to  die  early.  Having  been 
tenderly  brought  up,  she  naturally  expected  the  same 
treatment  from  her  husband,  but  was  doomed  to  a  sad 
disappointment.  Peters  became  jealous  and  morose, 
and  subjected  her  to  cruel  treatment. 

Her  delicate  constitution  gave  way,  and  she  went 
into  a  hasty  decline,  from  which  she  died  December 
fifth,  1784,  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  her  age,  loved 
and  mourned  by   all  who  knew  her. 

She  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  char- 
acters in  history.  Her  life  reads  more  like  a  romance 
than  the  statement  of  historical  facts.  From  a  con- 
dition of  nudity  in  a  slave-ship  she  worked  her  way 
up  until  she  conquered  the  social  caste  of  Boston  and 
London,  and  was  dined,  and  praised  by  the  cultivated 
and  refined  of  two  continents. 

George    W.   Wilhams  says  of  her,  "She  addressed 


36o  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

a  poem  to  General  Washington  that  pleased  the  old 
warrior  very  much.  We  have  never  seen  it,  though 
we  have  searched  diligently." 

Mr.  Sparks  says  of  it,  in  his  Life  of  Washington, 
"I  have  not  been  able  to  find  among  Washington's 
papers  this  letter  and  poem  addressed  to  him.  They 
have  doubtless  been  lost." 

Thus  we  see  a  distinguished  biographer,  and  no 
less  distinguished  historian,  both  "searched  diligently 
for  the  poem  and  their  conclusions  were  that  it  had 
"doubtless  been  lost."  But  we  are  glad  to  inform 
our  readers  that  the  poem  in  question  was  "not  lost, 
but  gone  before,"  to  the  publisher;  sent  by  Washing- 
ton himself.  And  having  obtained  a  copy  at  no  little 
trouble  and  pains,  we  shall  give  it  in  full,  but  will 
first  quote  two  letters  germane  to  it. 

"Cambridge,  February  28th,  1886. 

"Miss  Phillis, — Your  favor  of  the  26th  of  October 
did  not  reach  my  hands  till  the  middle  of  Decem- 
ber. Time  enough,  you  will  say,  to  have  given  an 
answer  ere  this.  Granted.  But  a  variety  of  impor- 
tant occurrences,  continually  interposing  to  distract 
the  mind  and  withdraw  the  attention,  I  hope  will 
apologize  for  the  delay,  and  plead  my  excuse  for 
seeming  neglect.  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your 
polite  notice  of  me,  in  the  elegant  lines  enclosed; 
and  however  undeserving  I  may  be  of  such  encomium 
and  panegyric,  the  style  and  manner  exhibit  a  strik- 
ing proof  of  your  poetical  talents;  in  honor  of  which, 
and  as  a  tribute  justly  due  to  you,  I  would  have  pub- 
lished the  poem,  had  I  not  been  apprehensive,  that 
while  I  only  meant  to  give  the  world  this  new  in- 
stance of  your  genius,  I  might  have  incurred  the  im- 
putation of  vanity.  This  and  nothing  else,  deter- 
mined me  not  to  give  it  place  in  the  public  prints. 

"If  you  should  ever    come  to    Cambridge,  or  near 


E.  J.  COOPER, 
Editor   Colored   American,   Washington,    D.    C. 


361 


362  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

headquarters,  shall  be  happy  to  see  a  person  so  fa- 
vored by  the  Muses, and  to  whom  nature  has  been  so 
liberal  and  beneficent  in  her  dispensations.  I  am, 
with  great  respect,  your    obedient,  humble    servant, 

"George  Washington." 

This  is  about  the  kind  of  a  letter  we  would  expect 
from  a  man  who  was  noble  enough  to  emancipate  his 
own  slaves,  that  they  might  enjoy  that  liberty  for 
which  he  imperiled  his  life. 

The  following  letter  accompanied  the  poem,  dedi- 
cated to  Washington  just  before  he  took  command 
of  the  Continental  army. 

"General  Washington,  Sir:  — 

"I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  address  your  excellency 
in  the  enclosed  poem,  and  entreat  your  acceptance, 
though  I  am  not  insensible  to  its  inaccuracies.  Your 
appointment  by  the  Continental  Congress  to  be  Gen- 
eralissimo of  the  armies  of  North  America,  together 
with  the  fame  of  your  virtues, excites  sensations  not 
easy  to  suppress.  Your  generosity,  therefore,  I  pre- 
sume, will  pardon  the  attempt. 

"Wishing  your  excellency  all  possible  success  in  the 
great  cause  you  are  so  generously  engaged  in,  I  am 
your  excellency's    most   obedient,    humble    servant,, 

"Phillis  Wheatley. 
"Providence,  October   26,  1775." 

his    excellency,     general    WASHINGTON. 

♦'Celestial    choir!    enthroned  in   realms  of  light, 
Columbia's  scenes  of  glorious  toils  I  write; 
While  freedom's  cause  her  anxious  breast  alarms, 
She  flashes  dreadful  in  refulgent  arms. 
See  Mother  Earth  her  offspring's  fate  bemoan, 
And  nation's  gaze  at  scenes  before   unknown; 
See   the  bright  beams  of  heaven's  revolving  light 
Involved  in  sorrows  and  in  veil  of  night. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  363 

The  goddess  comes,  she  moves  divinely  fair, 
Olive  and  laurel  bind  her  golden  hair; 
Wherever  shines  this  native  of  the  skies, 
Unnumbered  charms  and  recent  graces  rise. 
Muse!  bow  propitious  while  my  pen  relates 
How  pour  her  armies  through  a  thousand  gates; 
As  when  Eolus  heaven's  fair  face   deforms, 
Enwrapped  in  tempest  and  a  night  of  storms; 
Astonished  ocean  feels  the  wild  uproar, 
The  refluent  surges  beat  the  resounding  shore; 
Or  thick  as  leaves  in  Autumn's  golden  reign, 
Such  and  so  many  moves  the  warrior's  train. 
In  bright  array  they  seek  the  world  of  war. 
Where  high  unfurled  the  ensign  waves  in  air. 
Shall  I  to  Washington  their  praise  recite? 
Enough,  thou  knowest  them  in  the  fields  of  fight. 
Thee,  first  in  peace  and  honor  we  demand. 
The  grace  and  glory  of  thy  mortal  band. 
Famed  for  thy  valor,  for  thy  virtue  more. 
Hear  every  tongue  thy  guardian  aid  implore. 
One  Century  scarce  performed  its  destined  round 
When  Gallic  powers  Columbia's  fury  found; 
And,  so  may  you,  whoever  dares  disgrace 
The  land  of  freedom's  heaven-defended  race. 
Fixed  are  the  eyes  of  nations  on  the  scales, 
For    in  their  hopes  Columbia's  arm  prevails. 
Anon,  Britannia  droops  the  pensive  head. 
While  round  increase  the  rising  hills  of  dead. 
Ah!   cruel  blindness  to  Columbia's  state. 
Lament  thy  thirst  of  boundless  power  too  late. 
Proceed,  great  chief;  virtue  on  thy  side; 
Thy  every  action  let  the  goddess  guide. 
A  crown,  a  mansion,  and  a  throne  that  shine 
With  gold  unfading,  Washington,  be  thine." 

IV.  Sojourner  Truth,— The  Libyan  Sibyl: — It  is 
not  known  when  this  remarkable  woman  was  born, 
as  it  was  not  customary  to  keep  a  record  of  s^^ch 
trivial  events  as  the  birth  of  a  slave-child.   This  much  ' 


364  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

is  known,  she  was  manumitted  by  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York  in  181 1,  by  which  all  slaves  forty 
years  of  age  were  liberated  at  once,  the  others  in 
1828,  and  the  children  on  reaching  their  majority. 

Her  former  name  was  Isabella,  that  of  her  parents, 
James  and  Betsey,  slaves  of  Colonel  Ardinburgh,who 
belonged  to  that  class  called  Low  Dutch;  he  lived  in 
Hurley,  Ulster  County, New  York. 

She  remembered  that  her  parents,  Bomefree  and 
Mau-mau-Bett,  after  having  all  their  children,  whom 
God  had  intended  as  the  prop  and  stay  of  their  de- 
clining years,  sold  away  from  them,  were  emancipated 
when  they  became  old  and  well  nigh  helpless.  But 
this  was  little  more  than  liberty  to  starve  or  perish 
from  cold, for  they  were  given  to  understand  that  they 
could  expect  no  help  from  the  very  people  who  had 
been  enriched  by  thier  unpaid  toil  for  more  than  half 
a  century. 

At  nine  years  of  age,  Isabella  was  sold  for  one 
hundred  dollars  to  one  John  Nealy  of  Ulster  County, 
New  York.  She  thinks  her  sale  was  connected  in 
some  way  with  a  flock  of  sheep.  The  trials  of  her 
life  dated  from  this  period,  or  as  she  expressed  it, 
"Now  the  war  begun."  She  knew  nothing  of  the 
English  language,  while  the  Nealys  could  not  talk 
Dutch.  Mr.  Nealy,  however,  could  understand  that 
language,  but  neither  mistress  nor  maid  could  under- 
stand the  language  of  the  other.  This  naturally  led 
to  frequent  misunderstanding,  and  punishment  for 
poor  Isabella.  She  was  often  slapped  over  for  bringing 
the  wrong  article  to  her  mistress.  She  suffered  ter- 
ribly from  cold,  her  feet  becoming  badly  frozen.  And 
while  they  gave  her  plenty  to  eat,  they  also  gave  her 
plenty  of  whippings;  often  for  no  other  reason  than 
her  inability  to  understand  what  she  was  told  to  do. 

One  Sunday  morning  she  was  sent    to    the    bavn, 


A  NEW  CENTURY  365 

vvhere  she  found  her  master  waiting  for  her  with  a 
bundle  of  rods  in  his  hand.  Stripping  her  to  the  waist, 
and  tying  her  hands  before  her,  he  gave  her  the  most 
cruel  flogging  she  ever  received.  Her  flesh  was  deeply 
lacerated,  the  blood  streaming  to  the  barn  floor,  the 
scars  remaining  to  her  dying  day.  And  she  never 
knew  why  she  was  so  cruelly  whipped. 

Often  afterwards  she  stated, "When  I  hear 'em  tell 
of  whippin'  women  on  the  bare  flesh,  it  makes  my 
flesh  crawl,  an'  my  very  hair  rise  on  my  head!  Oh 
my  God,  what  a  way  is  this  of  treatin'  human 
bein's!"  She  now  remembered  her  mother's  instruc- 
tion to  pray  to  God  in  time  of  trouble,  and  at  once 
obeyed,  begging  God  to  send  her  father,  who  was 
still  living,  and  through  him  to  provide  a  kinder  mas- 
ter. 

This  prayer  (and  indeed  a//  her  prayers)  was 
promptly  answered.  In  a  short  time  her  poor  old 
father  came  to  see  her.  When  he  started  away  she 
followed  him  to  the  gate,  and  unburdened  her  heart. 

He  promised  to  do  what  he  could  and  in  a  short 
time  sent  a  rough  but  kind-hearted  man,  by  the  name 
of  Schriver,  who  purchased  Isabella  of  her  master 
for  one  hundred  and  five  dollars.  Schriver  lived 
about  six  miles  distant,  and  owned  a  large  farm,  but 
left  it  unimproved,  while  he  engaged  in  fishing,'  and 
keeping  a  hotel.  He  and  his  family  were  coarse, 
ignorant,  and  profane,  but  honest,  kind-hearted  peo- 
ple. Here  Isabella  was  kindly  treated,  but  learned 
from  their  example  to  swear  like  a  trooper.  Her  work 
consisted  of  carrying  fish,  hoeing  corn,  bringing  roots 
and  herbs  from  the  woods  for  beers,  and  going  on 
errands  to  the  Strand  for  a  jug  of  molasses  or  liquor. 

Naturally  instead  of  improving  in  morals  she  retro- 
graded, during  the  year  and  a  half  she  spent  there. 

Her  next  master  was  John   |.   Dumont,  to   whom 


366  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

she  was  sold  for  sevent}^  pounds  in  the  year  i8iO. 
He  also  lived  in  Ulster  County, near  the  town  of  New 
Paltz.  She  remained  with  him  until  the  fall  of  1827. 
Mr.  Dumont  was  a  kind-hearted  man,  but  his  wife 
was  not  accustomed  to  Negroes  and  disliked  Isabella 
from  the  first. 

Mrs.  Dumont  employed  two  white  girls;  one  of 
them,  named  Kate,  became  jealous  of  Bell  (as  they 
now  called  her  for  short)  on  account  of  the  master's 
praise,  and  was  very  overbearing  towards  her.  Thus 
she  was  praised  and  complimented  by  her  master,  who 
declared  she  could  do  more  than  half  a  dozen  common 
people;  while  her  mistress  replied  that  "the  reason 
she  accomplished  so  much  work,  was  because  she  did 
not  half  do  it."  In  proof  of  which  she  called  atten- 
tion to  the  potatoes  which  Bell  had  cooked  for 
breakfast,  and  showed  that  they  had  a  dingy,  dirty 
look;  remarking,  "This  is  a  fine  specimen  of  Bell's 
work,  but  it  is  the  way  all  her  work  is  done."  Even 
the  master  scolded  this  time,  and  commanded  her  to 
be  more  careful  in  the  future  on  pain  of  punishment, 
while  Kate  joined  heartily  in  the  censures,  wishing 
to  please  the  mistress. 

Isabella  had  done  her  best  to  have  those  potatoes 
nice  and  clean,  and  was  much  distressed  at  her  poor 
success,  and  inability  to  account  for  it.  In  this  dilem- 
ma Mr.  Dumont's  daughter  Gertrude,  a  kind-hearted 
girl  of  about  ten  years  of  age,  offered  her  sympathy 
and  aid.  It  was  agreed  between  them  that  Gertrude 
should  be  called  in  the  morning  when  Bell  arose, and 
they  would  wash  the  potatoes  thoroughly,  and  that 
Gertrude  should  watch  them  while  Bell  was  milk- 
ing. This  plan  was  carried  out  in  full;  but  presently 
Kate  came  into  the  room, requesting  Gertrude  to  "go 
to  her  mother;"  but  she  kept  her  place  in  the  corner, 
watching  closely.     Presently  she  saw  Kate  pick  up  a 


A  NEW  CENTURY  367 

large  chip  covered  with  ashes  and  deliberately  dash 
them  into  the  kettle.  Then  Gertrude  cried  out, "Oh, 
Poppee!"  (her  word  for  father.)  "Poppee!  Kate  has 
been  putting  ashes  in  among  the  potatoes!  I  saw 
her  do  it!  Look  at  those  that  fell  on  the  outside  of 
the  kettle!  You  can  now  see  what  made  the  pota- 
toes so  dingy  every  morning,  though  Bell  washed 
them  clean!"  Gertrude  soon  made  the  fraud  as  pub- 
lic as  the  censure  had  been.  The  master  was  prouder 
of  Bell  than  ever,  while  the  mistress  and  Kate  were 
both  deeply  mortified.  She  tried  after  this  vindica- 
tion harder  than  ever  to  please  her  master,  working 
almcst  night  and  day  in  the  effort. 

Some  time  after  this  a  strong  attachment  sprung 
up  between  Bell  and  a  slave  named  Robert,  belong- 
ing to  an  English  neighbor  named  Catlin.  But  the 
Englishman  forbade  him  to  visit  Eell,  and  ordered 
him  to  take  a  wife  from  among  his  fellow  slaves. 
Still  Robert  continued  to  follow  his  inclination,  and 
make  clandestine  visits.  One  Saturday  afternoon, 
learning  that  Bell  was  sick,  he  boldly  went  to  see 
her.  But  Catlin  and  his  son  followed  him,  and  as 
soon  as  he  reached  the  object  of  his  affections,  they 
both  fell  upon  him  like  madmen,  cursing,  and  beat- 
ing him  over  the  head  and  face  with  heavy  canes. 
The  blood  spurted  from  his  face,  and  they  would 
probably  have  beaten  him  to  death  had  not  the  more 
humane  Dumont  interfered,  telling  the  brutal  ruffians 
they  had  beaten  him  already  too  much,  they  could  no 
longer  spill  human  blood  on  his  premises;  he  would 
have  "no  nigger  killed  there." 

The  Catlins  now  took  a  rope  and  tied  his  hands 
behind  his  back  so  tight  that  Mr.  Dumont  compelled 
them  to  loosen  it,  saying  that  "no  brute,  m.uch  less  a 
\nan,  could  be  tied  that  way  where  he  was." 

Mr.  Dumont  also  followed  them  home  as  Robert's 


368  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

protector,  and  succeeded  in  cooling  their   wrath    be- 
fore he  left  them. 

Bell  had  witnessed  the  whole  scene  from  her  win- 
dow, and  was  shocked  at  the  cruel  treatment  of  poor 
Robert,  for  whom  she  had  the  warmest  affection,  and 
whose  only  crime  in  the  eyes  of  his  master  was  his 
love  for  her. 

Both  now  became  obedient  chattels, each  marrying 
a  fellow  slave,  if  the  farce  of  a  union  liable  to  be 
annulled  at  the  caprice  of  the  master  can  be  called  a 
marriage. 

In  process  of  time,  she  became  the  mother  of  five 
children;  and  carried  the  youngest  in  her  arms  when 
she  "walked"  away  from  Mr.  Damont's  house  in 
1827. 

By  the  conditions  of  the  act  of  the  New  York  leg- 
islature she  would  have  been  free  July  4,  1828.  Mr. 
Dumont, in  consideration  of  the  long  years  of  faithful 
service,  promised  to  give  her  free  papers  one  year  in 
advance  of  this  date.  But  when  the  time  came  he 
backed  out  on  the  trivial  plea  that  her  hand  had  been 
disabled  during  the  past  year,  and  she  could  not  per- 
form as  much  work  as  formerly.  In  vain  did  she  re- 
mind him  of  his  Ovvn  statement,  that  she  did  mere 
work  during  those  past  years  than  several  ordinary 
slaves.  Surely  working  night  and  day  for  long  years 
would  more  than  make  up  for  a  disabled  hand  one 
year.  But  as  he  still  refused,  she  determined  to  take 
the  matter  into  her  own  hands,  and  without  his  con- 
sent. She  started  one  fine  morning  just  before  day- 
light, her  baby  on  one  strong  arm,  a  bundle  of  food 
and  clothing  on  the  other.  Night  found  her  at  the 
home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Wagener,  to  whom  she 
had  been  directed  by  a  neighbor.  Here  she  wa^ 
kindly  received  and  given  employment.  In  a  shor*- 
time  Dumont  found  her.     She  anticipated  this   and 


A  NEW  CENTURY  3^9 

resolved  to  settle  it  with  him  at  once.  As  soon  a& 
they  met,  his  salutation  was,  "Well,  Bell,  so  you've 
run  away  from  me?"  "No,  I  did  not  rzm  away,  I 
walked  away  by  daylight,  and  all  because  you  had 
promised  me  a  year  off  my  time."  His  reply  was, 
"You  must  go  back  with  me."  Her  decided  answer 
was,  "No, I  won't  go  back  with  you."  He  said,  "Well, 
I  shall  take  the  child."  This  also  was  as  firmly  de- 
nied. Mr.  Isaac  Van  Wagener  now  interposed,  and 
bought  her  service  for  the  remainder  of  the  year  for 
twenty  dollars.  Dumont  also  exacted  five  dollars 
for  the  baby,  and  then  left;  but  not  until  he  heard 
Mr.  Van  Wagener  tell  Isabella  not  to  call  him  master, 
adding,  "There  is  but  one  Master;  and  he  who  is  your 
Master  is  my  Master."  Thus  ended  her  life  as  a 
slave. 

"Sojourner  once  visited  Mrs.  Harriet  B.  Stowe  at 
her  home ;  in  the  course  of  a  conversation  the  question 
was  asked:  — 

"Well,  Sojourner,  did  you  always  go  by  this  name.^^" 

"No,  'deed, my  name  was  Isabella;  but  when  I  left 
the  house  of  bondage,  I  left  everything  behind.  I 
wa'n't  goin'  to  keep  nothin'  of  Egypt  on  m.e,  an'  so 
I  w^ent  to  the  Lord  an'  asked  him  to  give  me  a  new 
name.  An'  the  Lord  give  me  Sojourner,  because  I 
was  to  travel  up  an'  down  the  land,showin'  the  peo- 
ple their  sins,  an'  bein'  a  sign  unto  them.  Afterward 
I  told  de  Lord  I  wanted  another  name,  'cause  every- 
body else  had  two  names;  an'  de  Lord  give  me  Truth, 
because  I  was  to  declare  the  truth  to  de  people." 

A  few  years  after  this,  she  felt  called  of  God  to 
labor  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  the  good  of  her 
own  oppressed  people, 

Though  never  able  to  read  or  write,  she  kept  her 
friends  busy  reading  the  Bible  to  her,  and  answering 
her  numerous  letters,     She  had  a  remarkable   mem- 


370  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ory,  learning  long  hymns  by  hearing  them  only  once, 
and  could  repeat  many  chapters  in  the  Bible  from 
hearing  them  read  a  few  times.  Moreover  she  had 
marvelous  power  with  God  and  man,  anc  a  natural 
eloquence  and  repartee  seldom  equaled. 

On  one  occasion  she  was  at  a  Woman's  Rights 
Convention,  where  the  ministers  in  the  town  turned 
out,  and  taking  issue  with  the  ladies,  by  their  soph- 
istries, turned  the  pjublic  sentiment  against  them, 
leaving  the  ladies  and  their  cause  in  utter  despair, 
when  Sojourner  stepped  to  the  front  and  snatched  a 
victory  from  the  jaws  of  defeat.      Hear  her:  — 

"Well,  chil'ern,  what's  all  dis  here  talkin'  'bout.? 
Dat  man  ober  dar  say  dat  women  needs  to  be  helped 
into  carriages,  and  lifted  ober  ditches,  an'  to  have 
de  bes'  place  every  whar.  Nobody  eber  help  me  into 
carriages,  or  ober  mud  puddles,  or  gives  me  any  bes' 
place  (and  raising  herself  to  her  full  height  and  her 
voice  to  a  pitch  like  rolling  thunder,  she  asked), 
an'  ar'n't  I  a  woman?  Look  at  me!  Look  at 
my  arm!  (And  she  bared  her  right  arm  to  the 
shoulder,  showing  her  tremendous  muscular  pow- 
er.) I  have  plowed,  an'  planted,  an'  gathered 
into  barns,  an'  no  man  could  head  me — an'  ar'n't 
I  a  woman.?  I  could  work  as  much,  an'  eat  as 
much  as  a  man  when  I  could  git  it,  an'  bear  de 
lash  as  well — ^an'  ar'n't  1  a  woman.?  I  have  born 
thirteen  children  an'  seen  'em  mos'  all  sold  off  into 
slavery,  an  when  1  cried  out  with  a  mother's  grief, 
none  but  Jesus  heard — an'  ar'n't  I  a  woman.?  Den 
dey  talks  'bout  dis  ting  in  de  head — what  dis  dey  call 
it.?"  "Intellect,"  whispered  some  one  near.  "Dat's 
it, honey.  What's  dat  got  to  do  with  woman's  rights 
or  niggers'  rights.?  If  my  cup  won't  hold  but  a  pint 
an'  yourn  holds  a  quart,  wouldn't  ye  be  mean  not  to 
let  me  have  my  little  half-measure    full?"      And    she 


A  NEW  CENTURY  371 

pointed  her  finger  and  sent  a  keen  glance  at  the  min- 
ister who  had  made  the  argument.  The  cheering 
was  long  and  loud. 

"Den  dat  little  man  in  black  dar,  he  say  woman 
can't  have  as  much  rights  as  man, cause  Christ  w'an' 
a  woman.      Whar  did  your  Christ  come  from?" 

Rolling  thunder  could  not  have  stilled  that  crowd 
as  did  those-  deep,  wonderful  tones,  as  she  stood 
there  with  outstretched  arms  and  eye  of  fire.  Rais- 
ing her  voice  still  louder,  she  repeated,  "Whar  did 
your  Christ  come  from?  From  God  and  a  woman. 
Man  had  nothingto  do  with  him."  Oh  !  what  a  rebuke 
she  gave  the  little  man! 

Turning  again  to  another  objector, she  took  up  the 
defense  of  mother  Eve,  and  ended  by  asserting  that 
"if  de  fust  woman  God  ever  made  could  turn  the 
world  upside  down,  all  'lone,  dese  togedder  ought 
to  be  able  to  turn  it  back  an'  git  it  right  side  up  agin, 
an'  now  dey  is  askin'  to  doit,  de  men  better  let  'em." 

Hundreds  rushed  up  to  shake  hands,  and  congrat- 
ulate this  glorious  old  mother  and  bid  her  Godspeed 
on  her  mission  of  'testifyin'  concernin'  de  wickedness 
of  dis  'ere  people." 

While  Parker  Pillsbury  was  speaking  at  an  aboli- 
tion meeting  one  Sunday  afternoon,  and  criticising  the 
churches  in  regard  to  slavery,  a  furious  thunderstorm 
came  up.  A  young  Methodist  arose,  and  interrupt- 
ing the  speaker,  said  he  was  "fearful  God's  judgment 
was  about  to  fall  on  him  for  daring  to  sit  and  hear 
such  blasphemy;  that  it  made  his  hair  almost  rise 
with  terror."  Here  a  voice  was  heard  above  the  rain, 
wind  and  thunder,  saying:  "Child, do  not  beskeered; 
you  are  not  goin'  to  be  harmed.  I  don't  speck  God's 
ever  hearn  tell  on  ye." 

She  got  up  a  fine  Thanksgiving  dinner,  for  the 
Battle  Creek  Colored  Regiment,  then    encamped    at 


372  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Detroit.  While  soliciting  for  the  "boys,"  she  met  one 
man  who  refused  to  donate,  making  rude  remarks 
about  niggers,  the  war,  etc.  Much  astonished,  she 
asked,  "Who  are  you?"  "I  am  the  only  son  of  my 
mother,"  he  answered.  To  which  she  replied,  "I  am 
glad  der  are  no  more,"  and  passed  on. 

During  the  war  she  met  an  old  Northern  Demo- 
cratic  friend,  who  asked  her  what  business  she  now 
followed.  She  quickly  answered,  "Years  ago,  when 
I  lived  in  the  city  of  New  York,  my  occupation  was 
scouring  brass  door-knobs;  but  now  I  go  about 
scouring  copperheads  " 

Just  before  the  war  she  held  a  number  of  meet- 
ings in  Ohio,  and  hit  the  apologists  of  slavery 
sledge-hammer  blows.  At  one  of  these  meetings  a 
man  interrupted  her  and  said,  "Old  woman,  do  you 
think  that  your  talk  about  slavery  does  any  good.'* 
Do  you  suppose  people  care  what  you  say.'*  Why,  I 
don't  care  any  more  for  your  talk  than  I  do  for  the 
bite  of  a  flea."  "Perhaps  not,"  she  answered, "but  the 
Lord  willin',  I'll  keep  you  scratchin'." 

Sojourner  was  an  inveterate  smoker.  Some  years 
before  her  death,  a  friend  asked  her  if  she  believed 
the  Bible.  "Certainly,"  she  answered.  He  contin^ 
ued,  "The  Bible  says  *no  unclean  thing  can  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.'  Now  what  can  be  more  filthy 
than  the  breath  of  a  smoker.?"  "Yes  chile,"  she  an- 
swered, "but  de  Bible  also  say,  'He  which  is  filthy 
let  him  be  filthy  still.'  Besides,  when  I  goes  to 
Heaven  I  'spect  to  leave  my  breff  behin'  me."  How- 
ever, she  soon  became  convinced  that  it  was  wrong, 
and  discontinued  it.  When  told  it  would  affect  her 
health,  she  answered,  "I'll  quit  ef  I  die."  She  did 
quit  and  lived! 

On  another  occasion  she  attended  a  large    reform 


A  NEW  CENTURY  373 

iieeting  where  there  were  a  number  of  speakers  of 
national  reputation.  But  in  spite  of  this  fact,  along- 
winded  person  mounted  the  platform  and  worried 
the  people  until  half  had  left,  and  the  others  were 
groaning  in  spirit.  At  last  he  paused  to  take  a  long 
breath;  when  Sojourner  rose  up  in  the  back  part  of 
the  audience  and  said,  "Chile,  ef  de  people  has  no- 
whar  to  put  it,  what  is  de  use.?  Sit  down,  chile,  sit 
down!"    He  sat  down. 

She  made  a  fine  point  on  the  Constitution  the  year 
the  weevil  destroyed  so  much  wheat.  Said  she: 
"Chil'ern,!  talks  to  God,  an'  God  talks  to  me.  Dis 
mornin'  I  was  walkin'  out,  an'  I  got  ober  de  fence 
mto  de  field.  I  saw  de  wheat  a  holdin'  up  its  head 
lookin'  very  big.  I  goes  up  an'  takes  holt  ob  it.  You 
believe  it,  dare  was  no  wheat  dare.?  I  says,  'God,' 
(speaking  the  name  reverently)  'what  is  de  matter 
wid  dis  wheat.?'  an'  he  says  to  me,  'Sojourner,  dare 
is  a  little  'iucaserm\i.'  Now  I  hears  talkin'  about  de 
Constitution,  an'  de  rights  ob  man.  I  comes  up  an' 
I  takes  holt  ob  dis  Constitution.  It  looks  mighty 
big,  an'  I  feels  for  my  rights,  but  dar  aint  any  dar. 
Den  I  says,  'God,  what  ails  dis  Constitution.?'  He 
"^ays  to  me,   'Sojourner,  dar  is  a  little  weasel  in   it.'" 

Volumes  were  written  about  the  Negro  and  the 
Constitution,  but  here  was  a  volume  in  a  few  sen- 
tences. 

Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  says  of  her:  "I  never  knew 
a  person  who  possessed  so  much  of  that  subtle,  con- 
trolling personal  power,  called  presence,  as  she.*' 
Wendell  Phillips  stated,  that  he  has  known  a  few 
words  from  her  to  electrify  an  audience.  In  proof  of 
this  he  cites  the  question  she  asked  Frederick  Doug- 
lass,who  was  speaking  in  Faneuil  Hall  at  one  of  the 
darkest  periods  of  the  abolition  struggle.  Douglass 
was  sad, — almost  ready  to  despair,  when   she    lifted 


374  ^  NEJV  NEG'kO  FOR 

her  long  finger  and  asked,  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by 
all,  ''*' Frederick,  is  God  dead?^''  That  was  all  she 
said,  but  it  was  enough. 

In  Calvin  Fairbanks'  account  of  Sojourner's  inter- 
view with  President  Lincoln,  he  states  that  he  and  a 
friend  were  standing  in  the  White  House,  when  she  ap- 
proached the  marshal  and  said:  "I  want  to  see  Presi- 
dent Lincoln."  "Well, the  President  is  busy,  and  you 
can't  see  him  now."  "Yes,  I  mus'  see  him.  If  he 
knew  I  was  here,  he'd  come  down  an'  see  me."  Fi- 
nally the  marshal  went  to  the  President's  room  with 
a  statement  of  the  case,  when  the  President  said: 
"I  do  believe  she  is  Sojourner  Truth.  Bring  her  up 
here." 

Up  she  went,  and  we  approached  near  enough  to 
catch  glimpses  and  hear  the  words  of  greeting.  "So- 
journer Truth,  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you!"  To  which 
she  replied,  "Mr.  President,  when  you  first  took  your 
seat  I  feared  you  would  be  torn  to  pieces,  for  I  lik- 
ened you  unto  Daniel, who  was  thrown  into  de  lions' 
den,  an'  ef  de  lions  did  not  tear  you  to  pieces,  I  knew 
dat  it  would  be  God  dat  had  saved  you;  an'  I  said  ef 
he  spared  me  I  would  see  you  befo'  de  fo'  years  ex- 
pired, an'  he  has  done  so,  an'  now  I  am  here  to  see 
you  for  myself.  I  never  hearn  of  you  befo'  you  was 
talked  of  for  President."  He  smilingly  replied,  "I 
had  heard  of  you  many  times  before  that."  The 
President  purchased  her  book;  then  handing  him  a 
photograph  of  herself,  she  said,  "It's  got  a  black  face, 
but  a  white  back,  an'  I'd  like  one  of  yours,  with  a 
green  back."  No  man  enjoyed  a  joke  more  than 
President  Lincoln;  and  putting  his  fingers  into  his 
vest  pocket,  he  handed  her  a  ten  dollar  bill,  remark- 
ing:    "There  is  my  face  with  a  gieen  back." 

The  following  is  from  one  of  her  dictated    letters: 

"He  then  showed  me  the  Bible   presented  to    him 


A  NEW  CENTURY  375 

by  the  colored  people  of  Baltimore,  and  it  is  beautiful 
beyond  description.  After  I  had  looked  it  over,  I 
said  to  him:  'This  is  beautiful  indeed ;the  colored  peo- 
ple have  given  this  to  the  head  of  the  government, 
and  that  government  once  sanctioned  laws  that 
'would  not  permit  its  people  to  learn  enough  to  enable 
them  to  read  this  book.  And  for  what?  Let  them 
answer  who  can.' 

"He  took  my  little  book, and  with  the  same  hand 
that  signed  the  death  warrant  of  slavery,  he  wrote  as 
follows: 

"♦For  Aunty  Sojourner  Truth,  Oct.  29,  1864.  A. 
Lincoln.'" 

Sojourner  remained  a  year  at  Arlington  Heights, 
instructing  the  freed  women  in  habits  of  economy, 
neatness  and  order.  She  sometimes  addressed  large 
numbers  of  them, and  on  one  occasion  exclaimed,  "Be 
clean!  be  clean!  for  cleanliness  is  godliness." 

She  was  disgusted  with  the  Government's  policy 
of  giving  food  to  the  Negroes,  without  making  any 
effort  to  teach  them  to  be  self-supporting.  Her  plan 
was  to  colonize  the  freedmen  out  West.  She  trav- 
eled oyer  many  states  securing  signers  to  a  petition 
to  Congress  for  her  pet  scheme. 

Rev.  George  Schorb  of  Evanston,  Illinois,  heard  her 
lecture  at  Topeka,  Kansas, in  the  interest  of  her  col- 
onization scheme.  He  said,  "She  was  more  than  a 
hundred  years  old,  but  her  voice  filled  a  large  audi- 
torium, and  she  held  her  audience  with  ease."  In 
fact  at  this  period  she  seemed  to  renew  her  youth, 
her  hair  turned  black  in  streaks,  second  sight  and 
second  hearing  came  to  her,  her  wrinkles  vanished, 
and  she  looked  younger  than  she  did  tweny  years  be- 
fore. 

She  obtained  thousands  of  signatures  to  her  peti- 
tion to  Congress,  and  although   that  body    took    no 


376  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

action,  her  efforts  gave  an  impetus  to  the  exodus  of 
the  colored  people  to  the  West,  a  few  years  after- 
wards. 

In  reviewing  her  life  we  can  but  wonder  what  she 
might  not  have  been,  had  she,  when  young,  received 
kind  treatment,  and  a  thorough  education.  Referring 
to  Horace  Greeley,  she  said,  "You  call  him  a  self-made 
man;  well, I  am  a  self-made  woman."  She  certainly 
was,  and  the  world  was  better  for  her  long  sojourn 
in  it.  For  she  went  about  doing  good,  until  she 
passed  to  her  reward  from  Battle  Creek,  Michigan, 
November  26,  1883. 


MRS.    FANNIE   BARRIER   V/ILLIAMS, 

Member  of  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club,  Newspaper  CoiVf-/ 

spondent  and  Author. 


378 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    CLUB    MOVEMENT    AMONG    COLORED 
WOMEN    OF    AMERICA. 

Afro-American  women  of  the  United  States  have 
never  had  the  benefit  of  a  discriminating  judgment 
concerning  their  worth  as  women  made  up  of  the 
good  and  bad  of  human  nature.  What  they  have 
been  made  to  be  and  not  what  they  are,  seldom 
enters  into  the  best  or  worst  opinion  concerning 
them. 

In  studying  the  status  of  Afro-American  women 
as  revealed  in  their  club  organizations,  it  ought  to 
be  borne  in  mind  that  such  social  differentiations 
as  ''women's  interests,  children's  interests,  and 
men's  interests"  that  are  so  finely  worked  out  in 
the  social  development  of  the  more  favored  races 
are  but  recent  recognitions  in  the  progressive  life 
of  the  negro  race.  Such  speciaHzing  had  no  eco- 
nomic value  in  slavery  days,  and  the  degrading 
habit  of  regarding  the  negro  race  as  an  unclassified 
people  has  not  yet  wholly  faded  into  a  memory. 

The  negro  as  an  ''alien"  race,  as  a  "problem,"  as 
an  "industrial  factor,"  as  "ex-slaves,"  as  "ignor- 
ant" etc.,  are  well  known  and  instantly  recognized; 
but  colored  women  as  mothers,  as  home-makers, 
as  the  center  and  source  of  the  social  life  of  the 
race  have  received  little  or  no  attention.  These 
women  have  been  left  to  grope  their  way  unassisted 
toward  a  realization  of  those  domestic  virtues, 
moral  impulses  and  standards  of  family  and  social 

379 


MRS.   HAYDEE  CAMPBELL, 
The  Popular  Kindergarten  Directress,  of  St.   Louis. 


380 


MISS  HELEN  ABBOTT, 
Noted  Kindergarten  Teacher  in  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


381 


382  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

life  that  are  the  badges  of  race  respectability.  They 
have  had  no  special  teachers  to  instruct  them.  No 
conventions  of  distinguished  women  of  the  more 
favored  race  have  met  to  consider  their  peculiar 
needs.  There  has  been  no  fixed  pubHc  opinion 
to  which  they  could  appeal;  no  protection  against 
the  hbelous  attacks  upon  their  characters,  and  no 
chivalry  generous  enough  to  guarantee  their  safety 
against  man's  inhumanity  to  woman.  Certain  it  is 
that  colored  women  have  been  the  least  known, 
and  the  most  ill-favored  class  of  women  in  this 
country. 

Thirty-five  years  ago  they  were  unsocialized,  un- 
classed  and  unrecognized  as  either  maids  or  ma- 
trons. They  w^re  simply  women  whose  character 
and  personality  excited  no  interest.  If  within 
thirty-five  years  they  have  become  sufficiently  im- 
portant to  be  studied  apart  from  the  general  race 
problem  and  have  come  to  be  recognized  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  general  w^omanhood  of  Amer- 
ican civilization,  that  fact  is  a  gratifying  evidence 
of  real  progress. 

In  considering  the  social  advancement  of  these 
women,  it  is  important  to  keep  in  mind  the  point 
from  which  progress  began,  and  the  fact  that  they 
have  been  mainly  self-taught  in  all  those  precious 
things  that  make  for  social  order,  purity  and  char- 
acter. They  have  gradually  become  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  progress  includes  a  great  deal  more 
than  what  is  generally  meant  by  the  terms  culture, 
education  and  contact. 

The  club  movement  among  colored  women 
reaches  into  the  sub-social  condition  of  the  entire 
race.     Among  white  v/omen  clubs  mean  the  for- 


A  NEW  CENTURY  383 

ward  movement  of  the  best  women  in  the  interest 
of  the  best  womanhood.  Among  colored  women 
the  club  is  the  effort  of  the  few  competent  in  be- 
half of  the  many  incompetent;  that  is  to  say  that 
the  club  is  only  one  of  many  means  for  the  social 
uplift  of  a  race.  Among  white  women  the  club  is 
the  onward  movement  of  the  already  uplifted. 

The  consciousness  of  being  fully  free  has  not  yet 
come  to  the  great  masses  of  the  colored  women  in 
this  country.  The  emancipation  of  the  mind  and 
spirit  of  the  race  could  not  be  accomplished  by  leg- 
islation. More  time,  more  patience,  more  suffer- 
ing and  more  charity  are  still  needed  to  complete 
the  work  of  emancipation. 

The  training  which  first  enabled  colored  women 
to  organize  and  successfully  carry  on  club  work 
was  originally  obtained  in  church  work.  These 
churches  have  been  and  still  are  the  great  prepara- 
tory schools  in  which  the  primary  lessons  of  social 
order,  mutual  trustfulness  and  united  effort  have 
been  taught.  The  churches  have  been  sustained, 
enlarged  and  beautified  principally  through  the  or- 
ganized efforts  of  their  women  members.  The 
meaning  of  unity  of  effort  for  the  common  good, 
the  development  of  social  sympathies  grew  into 
woman's  consciousness  through  the  privileges  of 
church  work. 

Still  another  school  of  preparation  for  colored 
women  has  been  their  secret  societies.  "The  ritual 
of  these  secret  societies  is  not  without  a  certain  so- 
cial value."  They  demand  a  higher  order  of  intel- 
ligence than  is  required  for  church  membership. 
Care  for  the  sick,  provisions  for  the  decent  burial 
of  the  indigent  dead,  the  care  for  orphans  and  the 


384  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

enlarging  sense  of  sisterhood  all  contributed  to  the 
development  of  the  very  conditions  of  heart  that 
qualify  women  for  the  more  inclusive  work  of  those 
social  reforms  that  are  the  aim  of  women's  clubs. 
The  churches  and  secret  societies  have  helped  to 
make  colored  women  acquainted  with  the  general 
social  condition  of  the  race  and  the  possibilities 
of  social  improvement. 

With  this  training  the  more  intelligent  women 
of  the  race  could  not  fail  to  follow  the  example  and 
be  inspired  by  the  larger  club  movement  of  the 
white  women.  The  need  of  social  reconstruction  be- 
came more  and  more  apparent  as  they  studied  the 
results  of  women's  organizations.  Better  homes, 
better  schools,  better  protection  for  girls  of  scant 
home  training,  better  sanitary  conditions,  better 
opportunities  for  competent  young  women  to  gain 
employment,  and  the  need  of  being  better  known 
to  the  American  people  appealed  to  the  conscience 
of  progressive  colored  women  from  many  com- 
munities. 

The  clubs  and  leagues  organized  among  colored 
women  have  all  been  more  or  less  in  direct  response 
to  these  appeals.  Seriousness  of  purpose  has  thus 
been  the  main  characteristic  of  all  these  organiza- 
tions. W^hile  the  National  Federation  of  Wom- 
an's Clubs  has  served  as  a  guide  and  inspiration  to 
colored  women,  the  club  movement  among  them 
is  something  deeper  than  a  mere  imitation  of  white 
women.  It  is  nothing  less  than  the  organized 
anxiety  of  women  who  have  become  intelligent 
enough  to  recognize  their  own  low  social  condi- 
tion and  strong  enough  to  initiate  the  forces  of 
reform. 


MRS.  ANNA  J.  COOPER, 
'eacher  of  Latin  in  the  Washington  High  School,  and  Au- 
thor of  the  "Voice  From  the  South." 


3§5 


386  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

The  club  movement  as  a  race  influence  among 
the  colored  women  of  the  country  may  be  fittingly 
said  to  date  from  July,  1895,  when  the  first  national 
conference  of  colored  women  was  held  in  Boston, 
Mass.  Prior  to  this  time  there  were  a  number  of 
strong  clubs  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  the 
country,  but  they  were  not  affiliated  and  the  larger 
idea  of  effecting  the  social  regeneration  of  the  race 
was  scarcely  conceived  of. 

Among  the  earlier  clubs  the  Woman's  League 
of  Washington,  D.  C,  organized  in  1892,  and  the 
Woman's  Era  Club  of  Boston,  organized  in  Janu- 
ary, 1893,  were  and  are  still  the  most  thorough 
and  influential  organizations  of  the  kind  in  the 
country. 

The  kind  of  work  carried  on  by  the  Washington 
League  since  its  organization  is  best  indicated  by 
its  standing  committees,  as  follows: 

Committee  on  Education. 
Committee  on  Industries. 
Committee  on  Mending  and  Sewing. 
Committee  on  Free  Class  Instruction. 
Committee  on  Day  Nursery. 
Committee  on  Building  Fund. 

These  various  activities  include  sewung  schools, 
kindergartens,  well-conducted  night  schools,  and 
mother's  meetings,  all  of  which  have  been  devel- 
oped and  made  a  prominent  part  of  the  educational 
and  social  forces  of  the  colored  people  of  the  capi- 
tal. The  league  has  made  itself  the  recognized 
champion  of  every  cause  in  which  colored  women 


A  NEW  CENTURY  3^7 

and  children  have  any  special  interests  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

The  league  is  also  especially  strong  in  the  per- 
sonnel of  its  membership,  being  made  up  largely 
of  teachers,  many  of  whom  are  recognized  as 
among  the  most  cultured  and  influential  women 
of  the  negro  race  in  this  country. 

Mrs.  Helen  Cook,  of  Washington,  was  the  first 
president  elected  by  the  league,  and  still  holds  that 
position.  Mrs.  Cook  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest 
and  best-established  colored  families  in  the  coun- 
try. She  has  had  all  the  advantages  of  culture, 
contact,  and  experience  to  make  her  an  ideal  leader 
of  the  leading  woman's  organization  of  the  colored 

race.  .   . 

The  Woman's  League  claims  to  have  origmated 
the  idea  of  a  national  organization  of  colored  wom- 
en's clubs.  In  its  annual  report  for  1895  there 
occurs  the  following  language: 

^The  idea  of  national  organization  has  been  em- 
bodied in  the  Woman's  League  of  Washington 
from  its  formation.  It  existed  fully  developed  m 
the  minds  of  the  original  members  even  before 
they  united  themselves  into  an  association  which 
has  national  union  for  its  central  thought,  its  inspir- 
ing motive,  its  avowed  purpose— its  very  reason  for 

being."  .   . 

Having  assumed  a  national  character  by  gaming 
the  affiliations  of  such  clubs  as  the  Kansas  City 
League,  the  Denver  League,  and  associations  m 
Virginia,  South  Carolina  and  Pennsylvania,  the 
Washington  League  w^as  admitted  into  the  mem- 
bership of  the  National  Council  of  Women  of  the 
United  States. 


MISS   ANNA  JONES, 

Teacher  in  Kansas  City  High  School;    is  an  Alumnus  of  the 

University  of  Michigan,  a  Brilliant   Linguist 

and  a  Most  Successful  Teacher. 


388 


MISS  SARAH  A.  BLOCKER, 

Principal  of  Normal  Department  of  Florida  Baptist  College, 

Jacksonville,  Fla. 


389 


390  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

The  league  is  very  tenacious  of  its  name  and 
claim  as  the  originator  of  the  idea  of  nationalizing 
the  colored  women's  clubs  of  America,  but  its 
claim  has  always  been  challenged  with  more  or  less 
spirit  by  some  of  the  clubs  composing  the  National 
Association. 

The  New  Era  Club  of  Boston  was  organized  in 
the  month  of  February,  1893.  The  desire  of  the  cul- 
tured and  public-spirited  colored  women  of  that  city 
to  do  something  in  the  way  of  promoting  a  more 
favorable  public  opinion  in  behalf  of  the  negro  race 
was  the  immediate  incentive  to  this  organization. 
The  club  began  its  work  of  agitation  by  collecting 
data  and  issuing  leaflets  and  tracts  containing  well- 
edited  matter  in  reference  to  Afro-American  prog- 
ress. Its  most  conspicuous  w^ork  has  been  the 
publication  of  the  Woman's  Era,  the  first  newspa- 
per ever  published  by  colored  women  in  this  coun- 
try. This  paper  gained  a.  wide  circulation  and  did 
more  than  any  other  single  agency  to  nationalize 
the  club  idea  among  the  colored  women  of  the 
country.  The  New  Era  Club  has  sustained  its 
reputation  as  the  most  representative  organization 
of  colored  people  in  New  England.  It  has  taken 
the  initiative  in  many  reforms  and  helpful  move- 
ments that  have  had  a  wide  influence  on  race  de- 
velopment. This  club  has  been  especially  useful 
and  influential  in  all  local  affairs  that  in  any  way 
effect  the  colored  people.  Deserving  young  men 
and  women  struggling  to  obtain  an  education,  and 
defenseless  young  women  in  distress  have  always 
been  able  to  find  substantial  assistance  in  the  New 
Era  Club. 

This  Boston  organization  embraces  a  member- 


MRS.    JOSEPHINE    ST.    PIERRE   RUFFIN, 
Prominent  Woman   of  Boston,    Leader  of  the  Club   Move- 
ment Among  Colored  Women. 


392  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

ship  of  about  one  hundred  women,  many  of  whom 
are  prominent  in  the  ranks  of  New  England's 
strongest  women. 

Mrs.  Josephine  St.  Pierre  Ruffin  has  been  the 
president  of  the  Era  Club  all  the  time  since  its  or- 
ganization. She  is  an  active  member  in  many  of 
the  influential  women's  organizations  in  Massa- 
chusetts. She  is  a  woman  of  rare  force  of  charac- 
ter, mental  alertness  and  of  generous  impulses. 
She  has  played  a  leading  part  in  every  movement 
that  has  tended  to  the  emancipation  of  colored 
women  from  the  thraldom  of  past  conditions.  Her 
husband,  the  late  Judge  Ruffin,  held  the  first  posi- 
tion of  a  judicial  character  ever  held  by  a  colored 
man  in  New  England. 

These  two  clubs,  located  respectively  in  Wash- 
ington and  Boston,  were  worthy  beginnings  of  the 
many  local  efforts  that  were  destined  to  grow  and 
spread  until  there  should  be  such  a  thing  in  the 
United  States  as  a  national  uprising  of  the  colored 
women  of  the  country  pledged  to  the  serious  work 
of  a  social  reconstruction  of  the  negro  race. 

But  these  two  clubs  were  not  the  only  examples 
of  the  colored  woman's  capacity  for  organization. 
The  following  clubs  were  thoroughly  organized 
and  actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  reform  con- 
temporaneously with  the  clubs  of  Boston  and 
Washington: 

The  Harper  Woman's  Club  of  Jefferson  City, 
Mo.,  was  formed  in  1890  and  had  established  a 
training  school  for  instruction  in  sewing;  a  temper- 
ance department  and  mothers'  meetings  were  also 
carried  on.  The  Loyal  Union  of  Brooklyn  and 
New  York  was  organized  in  December,  1892.     It 


A  NEW  CENTURY  393 

had  a  membership  of  seventy-five  women  and  was 
engaged  largely  in  agitating  for  better  schools  and 
better  opportunities  for  young  women  seeking 
honorable  employment;  the  I.  B.  W.  Club  of  Chi- 
cago, 111.,  organized  in  1893;  the  Woman's  Club 
of  Omaha,  Neb.,  organized  February,  1895;  the 
Belle  Phoebe  League  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  organized 
November,  1894;  the  Woman's  League  of  Den- 
ver; the  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club  of  New  Orleans; 
the  Sojourner  Club  of  Providence,  R.  L,  and  the 
Woman's  Mutual  Improvement  Club  of  Knoxville, 
Tenn.,  organized  in  1894. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  from  1890  to  1895  the 
character  of  Afro-American  womanhood  began  to 
assert  itself  in  definite  purposes  and  efforts  in  club 
work.  Many  of  these  clubs  came  into  being  all 
unconscious  of  the  influences  of  the  larger  club 
movement  among  white  women.  The  incentive  in 
most  cases  was  quite  simple  and  direct.  How  to 
help  and-  protect  some  defenseless  and  tempted 
young  woman;  how  to  aid  some  poor  boy  to  com- 
plete a  much-coveted  education;  how  to  lengthen 
the  short  school  term  in  some  impoverished  school 
district;  how  to  instruct  and  interest  deficient 
mothers  in  the  difficulties  of  child  training  are 
some  of  the  motives  that  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  great  majority  of  these  clubs.  These  were  the  * 
first  out-reachings  of  sympathy  and  fellowship  felt 
by  women  whose  lives  had  been  narrowed  by  the 
petty  concerns  of  the  struggle  for  existence  and 
removed  by  human  cruelty  from  all  the  harmonies 
of  freedom,  love  and  aspirations. 

Many  of  these  organizations  so  humble  in  their 
beginnings    and    meager    in    membership  clearly 


MISS  LULULOVE, 
Prominent  Teacher  of  Physical  Culture  in  the  Public  Schoo 
of  Washington,  D.  C. 


394 


MISS  LUTIE  A.  LYTLE, 
Teacher  Law  Department  Central  Tennessee  College, 
ville,   Tenn. 


Nash- 


395 


396  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

needed  behind  them  the  force  and  favor  of  some 
larger  sanction  to  save  them  from  timidity  and 
pettiness  of  eftort.  Many  of  them  clearly  needed 
the  inspirations,  the  wider  vision  and  supporting 
strength  that  come  from  a  national  unity.  The 
club  in  Mississippi  could  have  a  better  understand- 
ing of  its  own  possibilities  by  feeUng  the  kinship 
of  the  club  in  New  England  or  Chicago,  and  the 
womanhood  sympathy  of  these  northern  clubs 
must  remain  narrow  and  inefificient  if  isolated  in  in- 
terest from  the  self-emancipating  struggles  of 
southern  clubs. 

As  already  noted  some  of  the  more  progressive 
clubs  had  already  conceived  the  idea  of  a  National 
organization.  The  Woman's  Era  journal  of 
Boston  began  to  agitate  the  matter  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1894,  and  requested  the  clubs  to  express 
themselves  through  its  columns  on  the  question 
of  holding  a  National  convention.  Colored  women 
everywhere  were  quick  to  see  the  possible  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  a  National  conference  of  repre- 
sentative women.  It  was  everywhere  believed  that 
such  a  convention,  conducted  with  decorum,  and 
along  the  lines  of  serious  purpose  might  help  in  a 
decided  manner  to  change  public  opinion  con- 
cerning the  character  and  worth  of  colored  women. 
This  agitation  had  the  effect  of  committing  most 
of  the  clubs  to  the  proposal  for  a  call  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1895.  While  public-spirited  Afro- American 
women  everywhere  were  thus  aroused  to  this  larger 
vision  in  plans  for  race  amelioration,  there  occurred 
an  incident  of  aggravation  that  swept  away  all 
timidity  and  doubt  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  National 
conference.     Some  obscure  editor  in  a  Missouri 


A  NEW  CENTURY  397 

town  sought  to  gain  notoriety  by  publishing  a 
Hbelous  article  in  which  the  colored  women  of  the 
country  were  described  as  having  no  sense  of  virtue 
and  altogether  without  character.  The  article  in 
question  was  in  the  form  of  an  open  letter  addressed 
to  Miss  Florence  Belgarnie  of  England,  who  had 
manifested  a  kindly  interest  in  behalf  of  the  Ameri- 
can negro  as  a  result  of  Miss  Ida  B.  Wells'  agita- 
tion. This  letter  is  too  foul  for  reprint,  but  the 
effect  of  its  publication  stirred  the  intelligent  col- 
ored women  of  America  as  nothing  else  had  ever 
done.  The  letter,  in  spite  of  its  wanton  meanness, 
was  not  without  some  value  in  showing  to  what 
extent  the  sensitiveness  of  colored  women  had 
grown.  Twenty  years  prior  to  this  time  a  similar 
publication  w^ould  scarcely  have  been  noticed,  be- 
yond the  small  circles  of  the  few  who  could  read, 
and  were  public-spirited.  In  1895  this  open  and 
vulgar  attack  on  the  character  of  a  w^hole  race  of 
women  was  instantly  and  vehemently  resented,  in 
every  possible  way,  by  a  whole  race  of  women  con- 
scious of  being  slandered.  Mass  meetings  were 
held  in  every  part  of  the  country  to  denounce  the 
editor  and  refute  the  charges. 

The  calling  of  a  National  convention  of  colored 
women  w^as  hastened  by  this  coarse  assault  upon 
their  character.  The  Woman's  Era  Club  of  Bos- 
ton took  the  initiative  in  concentrating  the  wide- 
spread anxiety  to  do  something  large  and  effective, 
by  calling  a  National  conference  of  representative 
colored  women.  The  conference  was  appointed  to 
meet  in  Berkeley  Hall,  Boston,  for  a  three  days' 
session,  July  29,  30  and  31,  1895. 

In  pursuance  to  this  call  the  29th  day  of  July, 


MARY  C  JACKSON, 

Assistant  Principal  Haines'  Normal  and  Industrial  School, 

Augusta,  Ga. 


398 


MRS.   HENRIETTA   M.   ARCHER, 

Principal  of  the  Department  of  Latin  and  IMusic  in  A.  &  M 

College,  Normal,  Ala.,  and  Associate  with  the 

National  Colored  Woman's  Association. 


399 


400  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

1895,  witnessed  in  Berkeley  Hall  the  first  National 
convention  of  colored  women  ever  held  in  America. 
About  one  hundred  delegates  were  present  from 
ten  States  and  representatives  of  about  twenty-five 
different  clubs. 

The  convention  afforded  a  fine  exhibition  of  cap- 
able women.  There  was  nothing  amateurish,  un- 
certain or  timid  in  the  proceedings.  Every  subject 
of  peculiar  interest  to  colored  women  was  discussed 
and  acted  upon  as  if  by  women  disciplined  in  think- 
ing out  large  and  serious  problems.  The  following 
nam^ed  women  were  elected  as  officers  of  the  con- 
ference: 

Mrs.  Josephine  St.  P.  Ruf!in,  president;  vice- 
presidents,  Mrs.  Helen  Cook,  of  Washington,  and 
Mrs.  Booker  T.  Washington;  secretary,  Miss  E)iza 
Carter. 

The  sanity  of  these  colored  women  in  their  first 
National  association  was  shown  in  the  fact  that  but 
little  time  was  spent  in  complaints  and  fault-find- 
ing about  conditions  that  were  inevitable.  Almost 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  negro  gather- 
ings, this  Boston  conference  frankly  studied  the 
status  of  their  own  race  and  pointed  out  their  own 
shortcomings.  They  set  for  themselves  large  and 
serious  tasks  in  suggestions  of  plans  and  work  to 
redeem  the  unredeemed  among  them  The  con- 
vention did  credit  to  itself  by  sending  iar  and  wide 
a  warning  note  that  the  race  must  begm  to  help 
itself  to  live  better,  strive  for  a  higher  standard  of 
social  purity,  to  exercise  a  more  helpful  sympathy 
with  the  many  of  the  race  who  are  without  guides 
and  enlightenment  in  the  ways  of  social  righteous- 
ness. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  401 

Of  course  the  Missouri  editor  was  roundly  scored 
in  resolutions  that  lacked  nothing  of  the  elements 
of  resentment,  but  the  slanderous  article  against 
colored  women  that  was  the  immediate  incentive 
to  the  calling  of  the  conference,  became  of  the 
least  importance  when  the  women  came  together 
and  realized  the  responsibility  of  larger  considera- 
tions. They  very  soon  felt  that  a  National  con- 
vention of  responsible  women  w^ould  be  a  misplace- 
ment of  moral  force,  if  it  merely  exhausted  itself 
in  replying  to  a  slanderous  publication.  The  con- 
vention, therefore,  easily  shaped  itself  toward  the 
consideration  of  themes  and  policies  more  in  keep- 
ing with  its  responsibilities  to  the  thousands  of 
women  and  interests  represented. 

The  chief  work  of  the  convention  was  the  for- 
mation of  National  organization.  The  name 
adopted  was  "The  National  Association  of  Colored 
Women."  The  first  officers  of  the  National  asso- 
ciation were  as  follows: 

The  importance  of  this  Boston  conference  to  the 
club  movement  among  colored  women  can  scarcely 
be  overestimated.  The  bracing  effect  of  its  vigor- 
ous proceedings  and  stirring  addresses  to  the  pub- 
lic gave  a  certain  inspiration  to  the  women 
throughout  the  whole  country.  The  clubs  that 
already  existed  became  stronger  and  more  positive 
and  aggressive  in  their  helpful  work. 

The  National  association  has  steadily  grown  in 
power  and  influence  as  an  organized  body,  com- 
posed of  the  best  moral  and  social  forces  of  the 
negro  race.  It  has  held  three  National  conven- 
tions since  its  organization,  in  1895:  At  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  in  1896;  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1897;  and 


402  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

Chicago,  in  1899.  At  the  Chicago  convention  one 
hundred  and  fifty  delegates  were  present,  repre- 
senting clubs  from  thirty  States  of  the  Union.  The 
growing  importance  of  the  National  organization 
was  evidenced  by  the  generous  notices  and  edi- 
torial comments  in  the  press  of  the  country.  Fra- 
ternal greetings  w^ere  extended  to  the  Chicago 
convention  from  many  of  the  prominent  white 
clubs  of  the  city.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
no  National  convention  of  colored  people  held  in 
the  country  ever  made  such  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  public  and  told  a  more  thrilling  story  of  the 
social  progress  of  the  race  than  the  Chicago  con- 
vention. The  interest  awakened  in  colored  women, 
and  their  peculiar  interests,  was  evidenced  in  many 
ways.  The  National  association  has  made  it  pos- 
sible for  many  bright  colored  women  to  enjoy  the 
fellowship  and  helpfulness  of  many  of  the  best  or- 
ganizations of  American  women.  It  has  certainly 
helped  to  emancipate  the  white  women  from  the 
fear  and  uncertainty  of  contact  or  association  with 
women  of  the  darker  race.  In  other  words  the 
National  Association  of  Colored  Women's  Clubs 
is  helping  to  give  respect  and  character  to  a  race 
of  women  who  had  no  place  in  the  classification  of 
progressive  womanhood  in  America.  The  terms 
good  and  bad,  bright,  and  dull,  plain  and  beautiful 
are  now  as  applicable  to  colored  women  as  to 
women  of  other  races.  There  has  been  created 
such  a  thing  as  public  faith  in  the  sustained  virtue 
and  social  standards  of  the  women  who  have  spoken 
and  acted  so  well  in  these  representative  organiza- 
tions. The  National  body  has  also  been  felt  in 
giving  a  new  importance  and  a  larger  relationship 


MRS.  JOHN   R.    FRANCIS, 
Member  of  the   Board  of  Trustees   Public  Schools,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 


403 


404  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

to  the  purposes  and  activities  of  local  clubs 
throughout  the  country.  Colored  women  every- 
where in  this  club  work  began  to  feel  themselves 
included  in  a  wider  and  better  world  than  their 
immediate  neighborhood.  Women  who  have 
always  lived  and  breathed  the  air  of  ample  freedom 
and  whose  range  of  vision  has  been  world-wide, 
will  scarcely  know  what  it  means  for  women  whose 
lives  have  been  confined  and  dependent  to  feel  the 
first  consciousness  of  a  relationship  to  the  great 
social  forces  that  include  whole  nationalities  in  the 
sweep  of  their  influences.  To  feel  that  you  are 
something  better  than  a  slave,  or  a  descendant  of 
an  ex-slave,  to  feel  that  you  are  a  unit  in  the  wom- 
anhood of  a  great  nation  and  a  great  civilization,  is 
the  beginning  of  self-respect  and  the  respect  of 
your  race.  The  National  Association  of  Colored 
Women's  Clubs  has  certainly  meant  all  this  and 
much  more  to  the  women  of  the  ransomed  race  in 
the  United  States. 

The  National  association  has  also  been  useful  to 
an  important  extent  in  creating  what  may  be  called 
a  race  public  opinion.  When  the  local  clubs  of 
the  many  States  became  nationalized,  it  became 
possible  to  reach  the  whole  people  with  questions 
and  interests  that  concerned  the  whole  race.  For 
example,  when  the  National  association  interested 
itself  in  studying  such  problems  as  the  Convict 
Lease  System  of  the  Southern  States,  or  the  neces- 
sity of  kindergartens,  or  the  evils  of  the  one-room 
cabin,  it  was  possible  to  unite  and  interest  the  intel- 
ligent forces  of  the  entire  race.  On  these  and  other 
questions  it  has  become  possible  to  get  the  co- 
operation of  the  colored  people  in  Mississippi  and 


'A  NEW  CENTURY  405 

Minnesota  and  of  New  York  and  Florida.  Such 
co-operation  is  new  and  belongs  to  the  new  order 
of  things  brought  about  by  nationalized  efforts. 

Through  the  united  voice  of  the  representative 
colored  women  of  the  country  the  interests  of  the 
race  are  heard  by  the  American  women  wath  more 
effect  than  they  were  in  other  days.  There  is  cer- 
tainly more  power  to  demand  respect  and  righteous 
treatment  since  it  has  become  possible  to  organize 
the  best  forces  of  all  the  race  for  such  demands. 

The  influence  of  the  National  association  has 
been  especially  felt  in  the  rapid  increase  of  women's 
clubs  throughout  the  country,  and  especially  in 
the  South.  There  are  now  about  three  hundred  of 
such  clubs  in  the  United  States.  There  is  an 
average  membership  of  about  sixty  women  to  each 
club.  Some  have  an  enrollment  of  over  two  hun- 
dred women  and  there  are  but  few  with  less  than 
twenty-five.  Wherever  there  is  a  nucleus  of  in- 
telligent colored  women  there  will  be  found  a 
woman's  club.  The  following  is  only  a  partial  Hst 
of  the  clubs  composing  the  National  association. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CLUB   LIST. 

NAMES    OF    THE    CLUBS    OF    THE    NATIONAL 
ASSOCL\TION  OF  COLORED  WOMEN. 

ALABAMA. 

Enfaula  Woman's  Club. 

Greensboro  Woman's  Mutual  Benefit  Club. 

Montgomery  Sojourner  Truth  Club. 

Mt.  Meigs  Woman's  Club. 

Selma  Woman's  Club. 

Tuskegee  Woman's  Club. 

Tuskegee-Notasulga  Woman's  Club. 

Birmingham  Sojourner  Truth  Club. 

Ladies'  Auxiliary,  Montgomery. 

Ten  Times  One,  Montgomery. 

ARKANSAS. 
Little  Rock  Branch  of  National  Association. 
Woman's  Club,  Little  Rock. 

CALIFORNIA. 
Los  Angeles  Woman's  Club. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 
Biddle  University  Club. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
Charleston  Woman's  League. 
Charleston  W.  C.  T.  U. 

406 


1^  'm 

1 

•<^ 

w 

MRS.  MARY  CHURCH  TERRELL, 
President  of  the  National  Association  of  Colored  Women. 


407 


4o8  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

COLORADO. 
Denver,  The  Woman's  League. 

CONNECTICUT. 
Norwich,  Rose  of  New  England  League. 
FLORIDA. 

Jacksonville  Woman's  Christian  Industrial  and 
Protective  Union. 

The  Phyllis  Wheatley  Chautauqua  Circle,  Jackson- 
ville. 

The  Afro-American  W^oman's  Club,  Jacksonville. 

GEORGIA. 

Atlanta  Woman's  Club. 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Macon. 
Columbus,  Douglass  Reading  Circle. 
Augusta,  Woman's  Protective  Club. 
Woman's  Club  of  Athens. 

INDIANA. 

The  Booker  T.  Washington  Club,  Logansport. 

ILLINOIS. 

Chicago,  Ida  B.  Wells  Club. 

Chicago,  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club. 

Chicago,  Woman's  Civic  League. 

Chicago,  Women's  Conference. 

Chicago,  Women's  Circle. 

Chicago,  Progressive  Circle  of  King's  Daughters. 

KANSAS. 

Sierra  Leone  Club. 
Woman's  Club,  Paola. 


MRS.   HART, 

Tacksonville,  Fla.,  Promoter  of  a  Monument  to  Commemo- 

rate  the  Valor  of  Black  Soldiers  in  the 

Spanish-American  War. 


409 


410  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

KENTUCKY. 

Louisville,  Woman's  Improvement  Club., 
Echstein  Daisy  Club,  Cane  Springs. 

LOUISIANA. 
New  Orleans,  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Boston,  Woman's  Era  Club. 

Boston,  Lend-a-Hand  Club. 

Boston  Female  Benevolent  Firm. 

Boston,  E.  M.  Thomas  League. 

Boston  Calvary  Circle. 

New  Bedford  Woman's  Loyal  Union. 

Salem,  Woman's  Protective  Club. 

Cambridge  Golden  Rule  Club. 

Chelsea,  B.  T.  Tanner  Club. 

New  Bedford,  St.  Pierre  RufBn  Club. 

MINNESOTA. 

Minneapolis,  Ada  Sweet  Pioneer  Club. 
Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  Twin  City  Woman's  Era 

Club. 
St.  Paul,  Woman's  Loyal  Union  and  John  Brown 

Industrial  Club. 

MISSOURI. 

JefYerson  City  Woman's  Club. 

St.  Louis,  F.  E.  W.  Harper  League. 

St.  Joseph,  F.  E.  W.  H.  League. 

St.  Louis  Suffrage  Club. 

St.  Louis,  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club. 

St.  Louis  Woman's  Club. 

St.  Louis  Married  Ladies'  Thimble  Club. 


A  NEW  CENTURY  411 

Kansas  City  Club. 
Self-Improvement  Club,  St.  Louis. 

MICHIGAN. 

The  Detroit  Willing  Workers. 

Detroit,  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club. 

Lima,  The  Booker  T.  Washington  Club. 

Grand  Rapids,  Married  Ladies'  19th  Century  Club. 

Battle  Creek,  The  Sojourner  Truth  Improvement. 

Ann  Arbor,  The  Woman's  Federation  Club. 

NEW  YORK. 

New  York  and  Brooklyn,  Woman's  Loyal  Union. 

Buffalo  Woman's  Club. 

Harlem  Woman's  Sympathetic  Union. 

Rochester  Woman's  Club. 

New  York  and  Brooklyn,  W.  A.  A.  U. 

NEBRASKA. 
Omaha  Woman's  Club. 
Woman's  Improvement  Club. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 
Pittsburg  and  Alleghany  F.  E.  W.  H.  League. 
Woman's  Loyal  Union,  Pittsburg. 
Washington  Young  Woman's  Twentieth  Century 
Club. 

OHIO. 

Toledo  Woman's  Club.    A.  M.  E.,  Columbus. 

RHODE   ISLAND. 
Newport  Woman's  League. 
Providence  Working  Woman's  League. 
Lucy  Thurman  W.  C.  T.  U.,  St.  Paul. 
The  Dunbar  Reading  Circle,  Cleveland. 


IDA   GRAY  NELSON,  D.  D.  S., 

The  Only  Colored  Lady  Dentist  in  the  Country.    Graduate  of 

Ann  Arbor,  Michigan;   is  very  popular  and  has  a  large 

and  lucrative  practice  in  the  City  of  Chicago. 


41? 


BELLE  GARNET, 
Graduate  Nurse  of  Provident  Hospital  and  Training  School, 
^''Chicago,  now  Pursuing  a  Course  of  Medicine 
in  the  Chicago  Medical  College. 


413 


414  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

TENNESSEE. 
Knoxville,  Woman's  Mutual  Improvement   Zlub. 
Memphis,  Coterie  Migratory  Assembly. 
Memphis,  Hook's  School  Association. 
Phyllis  Wheatley,  Nashville. 
Jackson,  Woman's  Club. 
Jackson,  W.  C.  T.  U. 

TEXAS. 
Fort  Worth  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club. 

VIRGINIA. 
Woman's  League  of  Roanoke. 
Richmond  Woman's  League. 
Cappahoosic  Gloucester  A.  and  I.  School. 
Urbanna  Club. 

Lynchburg  Woman's  League. 
Lexington  Woman's  Club. 

DISTRICT   OF   COLUMBIA. 
Washington,  D.  C,  Ladies'  Auxiliary  Committee. 
Washington  League. 

Washington,  Lucy  Thurman  W.  C.  T.  U. 
Woman's  Protective  Union,  Washington,  D.  C. 

WEST  VIRGINIA. 
Wheeling,  Woman's  Fortnightly  Club. 

There  are  of  course  hundreds  of  clubs  that  are 
not  yet  members  of  the  National  association,  but 
these  outside  clubs  have  all  been  brought  into 
being  by  the  influence  of  the  National  body,  and 
have  received  their  inspiration  and  direction  from 
the  same  source. 

A  study  of  the  plans  and  purposes  of  these  clubs 
reveals  an  interesting  similarity.     They  show  that 


^ 


S.  J.  EVANS, 

Chief  Stenographer  in  One  of  the  Largest  Mercantile  Houses 

in  Chicago. 


415 


4i6  'A  NEtV  NEGRO  POR 

the  wants,  needs,  limitations  and  aspirations  of  the 
Afro-American  are  about  the  same  everywhere — 
North,  South,  East  and  West. 

If  the  question  be  asked:  ''What  do  these  clubs 
do;  what  do  they  stand  for  in  their  respective 
communities,  and  what  have  they  actually  accom- 
plished? satisfactory  answer  will  be  found  by 
studying  them  a  little  at  short  range. 

The  first  thing  to  be  noted  is  that  these  club 
women  are  students  of  their  own  social  condition, 
and  the  clubs  themselves  are  schools  in  which  are 
taught  and  learned,  more  or  less  thoroughly,  the 
near  lessons  of  life  and  living.  All  these  clubs  have 
a  program  for  study.  In  some  of  the  more  am- 
bitious clubs  literature,  music  and  art  are  studied 
more  or  less  seriously,  but  in  all  of  them  race 
problems  and  sociological  questions  directly  re- 
lated to  the  condition  of  the  negro  race  in  Ameri- 
ca are  the  principal  subjects  for  study  and  discus- 
sion. 

Many  of  the  clubs,  in  their  programs  for  study, 
plan  to  invite  from  time  to  time  prominent  men 
and  women  to  address  them  on  questions  of  vital 
interest.  In  this  way  club  members  not  only  be- 
come wide  aw^ake  and  interested  in  questions  of 
importance  to  themselves  and  their  community, 
but  men  and  women  who  help  to  make  and  shape 
public  opinion  have  an  opportunity  to  see  and 
know  the  better  side  of  the  colored  race. 

Race  prejudice  yields  more  readily  to  this  inter- 
change of  service  and  helpfulness  than  to  any  other 
force  in  the  relationship  of  races. 

The  lessons  learned  in  these  women's  organiza- 
tions of  the  country  all  have  a  direct  bearing  on 


A  Mew  c&NfURY  417 

the  social  conditions  of  the  negro  race.  They  are 
such  lessons  that  are  not  taught  in  the  schools  or 
preached  from  the  pulpits.  Home-making  has 
been  new  business  to  the  great  majority  of  the 
women  whom  the  women's  clubs  aim  to  reach  and 
influence.  For  this  reason  the  principal  object  of 
club  studies  is  to  teach  that  homes  are  somethmg 
better  and  dearer  than  rooms,  furniture,  comforts 
and  food.  How  to  make  the  homes  of  the  race 
the  shrines  of  all  the  domestic  virtues  rather  than 
a  mere  shelter,  is  the  important  thing  that  colored 
women  are  trying  to  learn  and  teach  through  their 
club  organizations. 

Take  for  example  one  club  in  Chicago,  known 
as  the  "Colored  Woman's  Conference,"  and  it  will 
be  found  that  its  aims  and  efforts  are  typical  of  the 
best  purposes  of  club  life  among  colored  women. 
The  special  activities  and  aims  of  this  particular 
club  are  the  estabUshment  of  kindergartens,  moth- 
ers' meetings,  sewing  schools  for  girls,  day  nur- 
series, employment  bureau;  promoting  the  cause 
of  education  by  estabUshing  a  direct  line  of  interest 
between  the  teacher  and  the  home  life  of  every 
child;  friendly  visiting  and  protection  to  friendless 
and  homeless  girls;  and  a  penny  savings  bank  as  a 
practical  lesson  in  frugality  and  economy.  The 
special  thing  to  be  noted  in  this  program  is  that 
colored  women  are  not  afraid  to  set  for  themselves 
hard  and  serious  tasks  and  to  make  whatever  sacri- 
fices necessary  to  realize  their  high  purposes. 

A  lack  of  kindergarten  teachers  more  than  a  lack 
of  money  has  retarded  the  work  of  estabUshing 
kindergartens,  especially  in  the  South,  where  they 
are  specially  needed.    The  progressive  woman  feels 


4i8  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

that  an  increased  number  of  kindergartens  would 
have  a  determining  influence  in  shaping  and 
moulding  the  character  of  thousands  of  colored 
children  whose  home  lives  are  scant  and  meager. 

The  success  of  the  kindergarten  work  in  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Haydee 
Campbell  and  her  able  assistant,  Miss  Helene  Ab- 
bott, is  a  happy  justification  of  the  wisdom  and 
anxiety  of  the  colored  club  woman  to  extend  these 
schools  wherever  it  is  possible  to  do  so. 

The  mothers'  meetings  established  in  connec- 
tion with  almost  every  club  have  probably  had  a 
more  direct  and  beneficial  influence  on  the  every-, 
day  problems  of  motherhood  and  home-making 
than  any  other  activity.  Meetings  of  this  sort  have 
been  the  chief  feature  of  the  women's  clubs  organ- 
ized by  the  Tuskegee  teachers  among  the  women 
of  the  hard  plantation  life,  within  reach  of  the  Tus- 
kegee Institute.  Thousands  of  these  women  in 
the  rural  Hfe  of  the  South  continue  to  live  under 
the  shadow  of  bondaged  conditions.  There  has 
come  to  them  scarcely  a  ray  of  light  as  to  a  better 
way  of  how  to  live  for  themselves  and  their  off- 
spring. 

It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  high  usefulness  of  the 
colored  club  woman  that  she  has  taken  the  initia- 
tive in  doing  something  to  reach  and  help  a  class 
of  women  who  have  lived  isolated  from  all  the. 
regenerating  and  upHfting  influences  of  freedom 
and  education.  It  is  the  first  touch  of  sympathy 
that  has  connected  the  progressive  colored  woman 
with  her  neglected  and  unprogressive  sister. 

In  this  connection  especial  word  ought  to  be 
said  in  behalf  of  these  clubs  as  agencies  of  rescue 


MRS.   C   S.   SMITH, 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  Late  Secretary  of  the  National  Association 

of  Colored  Women. 


419 


420  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

and  protection  to  the  many  unprotected  and  de- 
fenseless colored  girls  to  be  found  in  every  large 
city.  No  race  of  young  women  in  this  country 
have  so  little  done  for  them  as  the  young  colored 
woman.  She  is  unknown,  she  is  not  believed  in, 
and  in  respect  to  favors  that  direct  and  uplift,  she 
is  an  alien,  and  unheeded.  They  have  been  liter- 
ally shut  out  from  the  love,  favor  and  protection 
tha^  chivalry  and  a  common  pride  have  built  up 
around  the  personaUty  and  character  of  the  young 
women  of  almost  every  other  race.  The  colored 
women's  clubs  have  had  heart  enough  and  intelli- 
gence enough  to  recognize  their  opportunity  and 
duty  toward  their  own  young  women,  and  in  nu- 
merous instances  have  been  the  very  salvation  of 
unfortunate  colored  girls. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  usefulness  of  these 
clubs  in  this  rescue  work  was  recently  shown  by  the 
success  of  the  Colored  Woman's  Conference,  above 
mentioned,  in  saving  a  girl,  friendless,  and  a  victim 
of  unfortunate  circumstances,  from  the  stain  of  the 
penitentiary  by  pledging  to  take  her  in  charge  and 
to  save  her  to  herself  and  society  by  placing  her 
under  good  and  redeeming  influences. 

These  women's  clubs  have  never  failed  to  cham- 
pion the  cause  of  every  worthy  applicant  for  ad- 
vice and  assistance.  They  have  made  the  cause  of 
the  neglected  young  colored  woman  one  of  com- 
manding interest,  and  are  interesting  in  her  behalf 
every  possible  means  of  education,  and  are  en- 
deavoring to  create  for  her  a  kindlier  feeling  and  a 
better  degree  of  respect,  and  to  improve  her  stand- 
ing among  young  women  generally.  The  clubs 
have  entered  upon  this  department  of  their  work 


A  NEW  CENTURY  421 

with  great  heartiness  and  have  enhsted  in  behalf 
of  young  women  new  influences  of  helpfulness  and 
encouragement.  Colored  girls  with  poor  homes 
and  no  homes  are  many.  Thousands  of  them  are 
the  poor,  weak  and  misguided  daughters  of  ill- 
starred  mothers.  To  reach  out  for  and  save  them 
from  a  bitter  fate;  to  lift  them  into  a  higher  sphere 
of  hopefulness  and  opportunity  is  a  task  altogether 
worthy  of  the  best  efforts  of  club  women. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  earnestness  and  prac- 
tical aim  of  colored  women's  clubs  in  behalf  of 
kindergartens  for  the  children  and  salvation  for 
the  girls  may  also  be  said  of  the  practical  way  in 
which  they  have  established  and  sustained  sewing 
schools,  mending  schools  and  friendly  visitations  in 
behalf  of  neighborhood  respectability  and  decency, 
and  of  their  various  committees  that  visit  reform- 
atory institutions  and  jails  in  search  of  opportuni- 
ties to  be  useful.  Numerous  and  interesting  in- 
stances might  be  given  to  show  to  what  extent 
these  women  are  realizing  their  desire  to  be  useful 
in  the  social  regeneration  of  their  race. 

This  chapter  on  the  club  movement  among  col- 
ored women  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
notice  of  the  leaders  of  the  movement.  Nothing 
that  these  club  women  have  done  or  aimed  to  do  is 
more  interesting  than  themselves.  What  a  variety 
of  accomplishments,  talents,  successes  and  am- 
bitions have  been  brought  into  view  and  notice  by 
these  hitherto  obscure  women  of  a  ransomed  race! 
Educated?  Yes,  besides  the  thousands  educated 
in  the  common  schools,  hundreds  of  them  have 
been  trained  in  the  best  colleges  and  universities 


MISS   MATTIE   B.   DAVIS, 
President  The  Woman's  Club.  Athens.  Ga. 


422 


MRS    MARY  L.  DAVENPORT, 
President  of  the  Chicago  Woman's  Conference. 


424  'A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

in  the  country,  and  some  of  them  have  spent  sev- 
eral years  in  the  noted  schools  of  Europe. 

The  women  thus  trained  and  educated  are  busily 
pursuing  every  kind  of  avocation  not  prohibited  by 
American  prejudices.  As  educators,  fully  twenty 
thousand  of  them  are  at  work  in  the  schools,  col- 
leges and  universities  of  the  country,  and  some  of 
them  teach  everything  required  to  be  taught  from 
the  kindergarten  to  the  university.  Among  these 
educators  and  leaders  of  Afro-American  woman- 
hood are  to  be  found  linguists,  mathematicians, 
musicians,  artists,  authors,  newspaper  writers,  lec- 
turers and  reform  agitators,  with  varying  degrees 
of  excellence  and  success.  There  are  women  in  the 
professions  of  law,  medicine,  dentistry,  preaching, 
trained  nursing,  managers  of  successful  business 
enterprises,  and  women  of  small  independent  for- 
tunes made  and  saved  within  the  past  twenty-five 
years. 

There  are  women  plain,  beautiful,  charming, 
bright  conversationalists,  liuent,  resourceful  in 
ideas,  forceful  in  execution,  and  women  of  all  sorts 
of  temperament  and  idiosyncracies  and  force  and 
delicacy  of  character. 

All  this  of  course  is  simply  amazing  to  people 
trained  in  the  habit  of  rating  colored  women  too 
low  and  knowing  only  the  menial  type.  To  such 
people  she  is  a  revelation. 

.The  woman  thus  portrayed  is  the  real  new  wo- 
man in  American  life.  This  w^oman,  as  if  by 
magic,  has  succeeded  in  lifting  herself  as  completely 
from  the  stain  and  meanness  of  slavery  as  if  a  cen- 
tuiy  had  elapsed  since  the  day  of  emancipation. 
This  new  woman,  with  the  club  behind  her  and  the 


MRS.   BOOKER  T.   WASHINGTON. 
425 


426  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOK 

club  service  in  her  heart  and  mind,  has  come  to  the 
front  in  an  opportune  time.  She  is  needed  to 
change  the  old  idea  of  things  implanted  in  the 
minds  of  the  white  race  and  there  sustained  and 
hardened  into  a  national  habit  by  the  debasing  in- 
fluence of  slavery  estimates.  This  woman  is  needed 
as  an  educator  of  public  opinion.  She  is  a  happy 
refutation  of  the  idle  insinuations  and  common 
skepticism  as  to  the  womanly  worth  and  promise 
of  the  whole  race  of  women.  She  has  come  to 
enrich  American  life  with  finer  sympathies,  and  to 
enlarge  the  boundary  of  fraternity  and  the  demo- 
cracy of  love  among  American  women.  She  has 
come  to  join  her  talents,,  her  virtues,  her  intelli- 
gence, her  sacrifices  and  her  love  in  the  work  of 
redeeming  the  unredeemed  from  stagnation,  from 
cheapness  and  from  narrowness. 

Quite  as  important  as  all  this  she  has  come  to 
bring  new  hope  and  fresh  assurances  to  the  hapless 
young  women  of  her  own  race.  Life  is  not  a 
failure.  All  avenues  are  not  closed.  Womanly 
worth  of  whatever  race  or  complexion  is  appre- 
ciated. Love,  sympathy,  opportunity  and  helpful- 
ness are  within  the  reach  of  those  who  can  deserve 
them.  The  world  is  still  yearning  for  pure  hearts, 
willing  hands,  and  bright  minds.  This  and  much 
more  is  the  message  brought  by  this  new  woman 
to  the  hearts  of  thousands  discouraged  and  hope- 
less young  colored  women. 

It  is  a  real  message  of  courage,  a  real  inspiration 
that  has  touched  more  sides  of  the  Afro-American 
race  than  any  other  message  or  thing  since  the 
dawn  of  freedom.  '""       '"' 

This  is  not  exaggeration  or  fancy.    Demonstra- 


A  NEW  CENTURV  4^7 

tion  of  it  can  be  seen,  heard  and  felt  in  the  wide- 
spread renewal  of  hope  and  effort  among  the  pres- 
ent generation  of  young  Afro-American  women. 
These  young  women,  thus  aroused  to  courag*^, 
to  hope  and  self-assertion  toward  better  things,  can 
find  inspiring  examples  of  success  and  achieve- 
ments in  the  women  of  their  own  race.  They  have 
beo-un  to  feel  something  of  the  exaltation  of  race 
pride  and  race  ideals.  They  have  been  brought 
face  to  face  with  standards  of  living  that  are  high 
and  ennobUng,  and  have  been  made  conscious  of 
the  severe  penalties  of  social  misdoings. 

Around  them  has  been  created  a  sentiment  of 
care  pride,  protection  and  chivalry  that  is  every 
day  'deepening  and  widening  the  distinctions  be- 
tween right  and  wrong  in  woman's  relationship  to 
man,  child  and  society. 

The  glow  of  optimism  has  coursed  so  easily 
through  this  chapter  concerning  the  work  done 
and  attempted  by  colored  women  that  the  import- 
ance of  it  all  may  seem  somewhat  exaggerated. 

It  perhaps,  should  be  confessed  that  m  spite  of 
the  'actual  good  already  realized,  the  club  move- 
ment is  more  of  a  prophecy  than  a  thing  accom- 
plished. Colored  women  organized  have  succeeded 
in  touching  the  heart  of  the  race,  and  for  the  hrst 
time  the  thrill  of  unity  has  been  felt.  They  have 
set  in  motion  moral  forces  that  are  beginning  to 
socialize  interests  that  have  been  kept  apart  by 
ip-norance  and  the  spirit  of  dependence. 

They  have  begun  to  make  the  virtues  as  well  as 
the  wants  of  the  colored  women  known  to  the 
American  people.  They  are  striving  to  put  a  new 
social  value  on  themselves.     Yet  their  work  has 


42§  A  NEW  NEGRO  FOR 

just  begun.    It  takes  more  than  five  or  ten  years  to 
effect  the  social  uph'ft  of  a  whole  race  of  people. 

The  club  movement  is  well  purposed.  There  is 
in  it  a  strong  faith,  an  enthusiasm  born  of  love  and 
sympathy,  and  an  ever-increasing  intelligence  in 
the  ways  and  means  of  affecting  noble  results.  It 
is  not  a  fad.  It  is  not  an  imitation.  It  is  not  a 
passing  sentiment.  It  is  not  an  expedient,  or  an 
experiment.  It  is  rather  the  force  of  a  new  intelli- 
gence against  the  old  ignorance.  The  struggle  of 
an  enlightened  conscience  against  the  whole  brood 
of  social  miseries  born  out  of  the  stress  and  pain 
of  a  hated  past. 

FANNIE  BARRIER  WILLIAMS. 


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